By U.S. Army Lt. Col. Wayne N. Yoshioka
117th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
KABUL, Afghanistan -- Twenty-five years ago, Hashem Baluch walked for two days from Kabul, Afghanistan, to cross the mountainous border to Peshawar, Pakistan. With a university civil engineering degree in hand, he left his birthplace in search of a better life.
A wife, three children, U.S. citizenship, a huge six-bedroom house in Centerville, Va., and more than 18 years of work in civil engineering later, Hashem is back in Kabul on a mission to make life better for other Afghans.
Hashem, now 48, returned to Kabul in April 2004 to serve as the training manager for the Contrack Construction Training Center, operated by Contrack International Inc., one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers" main building contractors in Afghanistan. The center trains Afghans in six journeyman skills: carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, masonry, painting and steel fixing.
Almost 700 students have graduated from the program since its inception a year ago. Many of the graduates now work for Contrack on Afghan National Army construction projects.
When he was asked if he wanted to go back to Afghanistan to work at the training center, he jumped at the opportunity. "For a country like Afghanistan, after 28 years of fighting, there is no other source to teach them a skill," says Hashem. "I wanted to come back.
I speak Pashto, Farsi, Dari, English and other languages. It's easy for the students to talk (to me)."
Students at the training center learn to use the latest building materials and construction techniques from the United States. They begin every school day with a safety class and take advantage of Hashem's experience as a field engineer and civil engineer. The school is a success, as it has a waiting list until the end of September.
"The school is open to all Afghans, 'says Hashem. "We provide transportation; we give them $3 per day for lunch, working shoes, hard hats, safety glasses and gloves. We (Contrack) pay them. They don't pay us."
To focus on his training mission in Afghanistan, Hashem has relied on his family. There are no schools for his three children, so his wife, Masooda, 44, maintains their home in Virginia.
She completed dental school and is teaching at NOVA College. Seventeen-year-old daughter Anna is a junior at Centreville High School and plays basketball and soccer. Son Ali, 15, is a sophomore, plays basketball and soccer and takes tae kwon do.
Youngest daughter Awista is in the third grade at Bull Run Elementary School and is also a good soccer player.
Hashem says he will stay in Afghanistan as long as he can. His goal is to use his knowledge and experience to train young Afghans to apply their skills and use new materials and technology to rebuild their country.
"I feel very good to come back to help Afghans," Hashem says. "Every time I go back home and see my kids and family, I feel good. Every time I come here and see my relatives and Afghanistan, that feels good. I try my best for both countries."
Contrack Construction Training Center formally celebrated its grand opening May 21. Hashem was promoted and became the first Afghan-American project manager to oversee all of the operations at the training center.