KABUL – On a Monday night, it is not uncommon for passing military to hear laughter billowing out of an engineering conference room at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The source of the laughter is mixture of different U.S. and coalition military, DOD civilians, contractors, male and female, busy crocheting colorful blankets and enjoying a moment away from the stresses of life in a combat zone.
At the center of upbeat conversation and laughter is Lake City, Fla., native U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Constance Spotts, founder of the Camp Eggers Afghans for Afghans in Afghanistan crochet club. For the two hours the club meets, she tirelessly bounces around the room answering questions and helping crocheters with patterns or color schemes.
“We’re still wearing our weapons but we forget where we are for that hour to two hours,” said Spotts. “Not that we completely forget; it’s just not the priority of the moment ... It’s a time away, it’s an escape.”
This is Spotts’ third military deployment but first to Afghanistan and first working with the U.S. Army and the 37 coalition forces that make up NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan. During her yearlong Individual Augmentee deployment as NTM-A’s engineering Integration Branch Chief, she expressed her biggest challenge was adapting to a new job and surroundings.
“When you deploy on a ship, you are doing a job you have been trained to do. When you deploy over here you are doing somebody else’s job,” Spotts explained. “You’re disassociated with how things are suppose to work and the job you are suppose to do. So, it’s something you have to work through and figure out how to make it work for you.”
Spotts attributes a lot of her success to her supervisor and coworkers. During deployment she helped develop base closure guidance, for the almost 500 battle spaces in Afghanistan that will need to close before the 2014 transition to the Afghan security lead. Currently, the guidance has helped in 30 closures throughout the country.
“It’s a foundation, something to establish an eight day process for review of these projects so we are not the stop gate for something,” expressed Spotts. “That’s what I want to take away from here. Understanding that people got something done because we all worked together as a team, we never stopped.”
To feel connected to her life back in the states, Spotts decided to bring her love for crocheting on deployment. Spotts said it was important to stay busy in her off time and do something she enjoyed at home. Since she was deploying to Afghanistan, the idea of crocheting Afghan blankets seemed appropriate.
“When you are taken away from everything [you know], you have to keep something,” Spotts explained about her disassociated feelings of being a sailor deployed to the desert. “I’m also a crocheter back home. I have all this yarn. So why not make Afghans in Afghanistan.”
What Spotts didn’t expect on deployment was meeting other crocheters. On Spotts’ first day at Camp Eggers, she met Dept. of Defense civilian Donna Shropshire.
“When I pulled a ball of yarn out of my sea bags, she was like ‘you’re a crocheter too,’” Spotts recalled of meeting Shropshire. “[It was an] instant friendship, instant comradery.”
Spotts didn’t stop there. Both women worked with the Camp Eggers’ MWR office to develop and promote the idea of starting a club where anyone interested could escape the stressors of being in a combat zone, learn or develop their crochet skills and provide a service to others with handmade blankets. According to Spotts, putting together the club lifted her spirits.
“I’m not alone. I’m not this bobbing entity in the middle of the sea,” said Spotts. “I thought there are probably other people that want to do this. There are probably other people that want to sit down and just forget that they are wherever they are, from the work to the location to being away from friends and family.”
She was right. At one point, 17 crocheters gathered together in the modest sized conference room to swap crochet designs and help each other with projects. The club crocheted 48 Afghan blankets since it officially started in June. On Jan. 28, members of the club handed out the blankets to pediatric patients at Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Kabul.
Being a part of the club and donation had a positive impact on Leanna Dagley, an accountant for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and avid crocheter for over 20 years.
“I’m glad we were able to hand the blankets directly to the patients,” shared Dagley. “It provided great gratification to know that our work will benefit those who need it.”
Dagley has been a member since the club’s beginning and noticed how welcoming and supportive Spotts has been to other crocheters.
“Lt. Cmdr. Spotts is the type of person who will go out of her way to help someone and makes a point of making new members feel welcome. Her patience and love of the craft become quite obvious when you observe her interaction with others,” Dagley said.
Leading a crochet club requires a lot supplies and Spotts is quick to give thanks and credit to people and organizations that have helped her make a difference in Afghanistan. Over 200 skeins of yarn and a generous amount of crochet needles were donated by The Bodine School in Germantown, Tenn., through her sister Terri Cox. Spotts also received emotional support from her friends back in Lake City.
“The support comes in different ways. My sister and her friends and the people that donated the needles, the yarn, even the support of how wonderful it is that you are doing this goes a long way,” commented Spotts. “Just the recognition that you’re not alone and that somebody wants to help has gone far.”
Spotts completed her deployment this month and will return to her husband and Navy at Puget Sound Shipyards, Wash. On Feb. 2, she was recognized by her command and awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal by NTM-A Director of Engineering Col. John S. Kem.
NTM-A is a coalition of 37 troop-contributing nations charged with assisting the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in generating a capable and sustainable Afghan National Security Force ready to take lead of their country's security by 2014. For more information about NTM-A, visit www.ntm-a.com.
| Date Taken: |
02.15.2012 |
| Date Posted: |
02.23.2012 10:45 |
| Story ID: |
84236 |
| Location: |
KABUL, AF |
| Hometown: |
LAKE CITY, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: |
106 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
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