Khermensan road, a six kilometer compacted gravel spur connecting the historic Daraband pass to the main valley road in Anaba, Panjshir was officially opened, Oct. 8.

The Daraband pass is the strategic connection between the Shomali Plain and the Panjshir Valley; it is here where the Northern Alliance and U.S. troops began their campaign to roust the Taliban shortly after September 11th attacks on the United States.

Members of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team joined Panjshir Governor Hajji Bahlol, Anaba district governor Hajji Sadiqi, and over 100 residents in ceremony held at the Daraband High School. After the opening prayer, local school children sang a traditional song called “Torona” about the brave people of Panjshir and their resistance to the Soviet occupation and Taliban rule. PRT commander, Lt. Col. Eric Hommel, was the first speaker.

“I ask for your continued assistance as we proceed forward,” Hommel said. “We are moving from a time where the PRT working with the government provides for the people to a time where the people must take ownership for their future.”

PRT Director Mr. James DeHart spoke next, trumpeting the progress that has made here though cooperation.

“The reason the PRT has been able to build roads, schools, and clinics is because the people of Panjshir have provided for their own security and for the security of the PRT,” DeHart said. “We share a vision with the people of Panjshir for peace, stability, and economic development. Together, we stand against terrorism, narcotics, and corruption.”

The keynote speaker of the event was Governor Bahlol, who thanked the PRT and the American people for providing the resources for projects such as the road. He also urged the citizens to take care of the road, schools and all the projects belonging to them.

Governor Bahlol recanted a story of the Panjshir people and their struggle against the Soviets. He told of a man with no shoes who, in the dead of winter, would carry ammunition and food to those fighting.

“It is this spirit,” he said, “that provides the security that makes development possible.”

In a show of solidarity, Bahlol then presented Hommel with an Afghan carpet made in the valley. Hommel accepted on behalf of the previous PRT commander, Lt. Col. Mark E. Stratton, who died along with three other members of his team in a suicide bomber attack in Kapisa province.

“Colonel Stratton’s team initiated this project, it is he who deserves this gift,” said Hommel. “I will ensure his family receives this so they can see the lasting impression his team made on this valley.”

DVIDS
Story by Capt. John T. Stamm

The Women’s Poultry Project in Afghanistan’s Panjshir province is a giant leap forward for the women who call the Panjshir River valley their home.

The project is designed to empower women in the valley by assisting them in providing food and income for families.

Greg Schlenz of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agricultural advisor to the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team, said the project began last spring in the Anaba district with about 200 families and now includes more than 1,200 Panjshir families in the Anaba, Rhoka, Bazarak, Dara and Khenj districts.

In four training phases over three months, the women learn how to raise, maintain and profit from their chickens.

“The first phase is the initial training, where the women learn how to properly care for the chickens,” Schlenz said. “This includes feeding, watering, managing and how to vaccinate against diseases.”

During the second phase, the women receive materials to build their own chicken coops. In the third phase, the women are given 13 hens and two roosters and receive follow-up visits to ensure the chickens are being cared for properly. The fourth phase teaches the women how to market eggs laid by the chickens.

The provincial reconstruction team’s women’s affairs working group serves as the liaison between the Afghan women taking part in the project and the agricultural team. On Aug. 16, the group visited several project sites in the Chalapawi village in Dara district.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Danielle M. Sempter, non-commissioned officer in charge of the provincial reconstruction team’s medical unit, is an active member of the working group and was present at the site visit.

“This project is a huge success,” she said. “They were happy to see us, and many said raising chickens has significantly improved the quality of their lives.”

Sempter added that others have noticed the difference raising chickens has made and want to be a part of the project.

“Women who weren’t involved came up and asked for training and chickens of their own,” she said.

Sempter said most of the owners reported only consuming the eggs, with only one claiming to be selling half of the eggs and keeping the rest. Though none reported consuming the chickens, she added, only one had all 15 chickens.

Schlenz said the project has spread to other areas of Panjshir and to other provinces in Afghanistan. A similar program is being developed to teach Afghans in Panjshir’s Paryan district to care for and benefit from sheep.

DVIDS
Story by Capt. John Stamm

Lima, 16, a 12th grader at a Kabul high school, translates English into Dari for local Afghans as U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks during the opening ceremony of the Peshgur School for Girls in the Khenj district of eastern Afghanistan’s Panjshir province, July 15. During the ceremony, Lima also spoke with the students about her educational path. The fluent Dari, Pashto, English and Urdu speaker is currently preparing for her college entrance exams, and plans to study medicine at Kabul University. Photo by U.S. Air Force Capt. Stacie N. Shafran, Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs Office

Local Afghans, U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, author Greg Mortenson, and members of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team, attended the grand opening ceremony of the province’s newest girls’ school, July 15.

Mortenson, who wrote the book “Three Cups of Tea,” coordinated the building of the six-classroom Peshgur School for Girls, in Khenj district, as part of his overall plan to promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

During the ceremony, Mullen addressed the large crowd of children, village elders and provincial leaders, to include Panjshir’s governor, Haji Bahlol, and the provincial director of education.

“The focus of today is opening a school for our children, and our future together depends very much on our children’s education,” he said.

The chairman also said he brought good wishes from the American people with him and expressed gratitude to those who built the new school, which can accommodate 400 students. He commended Mortenson, calling him a good example for all to follow.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the school’s entrance, the chairman distributed new notebooks to two classrooms of girls.

Lima, a twelfth grader at a Kabul high school run by Mortenson, also attended the ceremony. As her school’s top student, she was allowed to travel to Panjshir with her brother to attend the opening ceremony. She also translated the chairman’s speech during the ceremony from English into Dari.

Throughout the morning, the 16-year old also spoke with many of the young girls, explaining the hard work and determination she’s applied toward her education.

“We must make our own decisions,” said Lima. “Nothing is easy. My decision is to study and make a future for myself.”

The fluent Dari, Pashto, English and Urdu speaker is currently preparing for her college entrance exams, and plans to study medicine at Kabul University. Although Lima’s father is unemployed and her mother is a homemaker, she said it’s because of their support and Mortenson’s vision that helped her get to where she is today.

“The effects of Greg Mortensen’s work, as well as the work of the Panjshir PRT will not be seen overnight, however, their combined efforts will prove enduring for generations to come,” said Army Capt. Chris Mercado, the PRT’s operations officer.

Mercado also added that education is but one area of focus in a larger effort to connect the people of Afghanistan to essential services, governance and security.

The Panjshir PRT, in coordination with the Panjshir director of education, is facilitating 12 education projects, worth $2.8 million, throughout the province, including nine schools, two dormitories and one multi-purpose building which will be used as a library and laboratory.

CJTF-82
Written by U.S. Air Force Capt. Stacie N. Shafran
Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team Public Affairs Office

It isn’t just young men who are dying to protect the United States. Some remarkable young women are also giving their lives for our freedom. This is one such female warfighter.

This tribute to her was written by one of her fellow soldiers in Afghanistan.

Senior Airman Ashton Goodman KIA in Afghanistan, May 2009

Over the past few weeks, a senior airman on the verge of becoming a non-commissioned officer seemed to transform in front of her teammate’s eyes.

Everyone already knew that Senior Airman Ashton Goodman was a capable vehicle operator.

The Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team’s main project has been the construction of a $28 million road project connecting Panjshir to the Badakhshan province, as well as all neighboring provinces. Airman Goodman supported countless engineering missions to the province’s most northern and remote district of Paryan where the final leg of the 80-mile road is presently under construction.

It seems, though, that as her tour on Panjshir’s Provincial Reconstruction Team came to an end, she still had a few things left on her to-do list.

Over the past month, Airman Goodman, an aspiring writer and photographer, volunteered to work alongside me in public affairs. Eager to tell our team’s story, she penned her first news story and quickly found herself published on the Air Force Web site. She also channeled her passion and creativity every day for two weeks into producing the team’s yearbook. Within days of launching an impressive advertising campaign, she had books sold to nearly everyone she came into contact with.

As a 21-year-old young woman, Airman Goodman also found herself in a unique position mentoring the province’s female Afghan leadership. During weekly meetings with the Director of Women’s Affairs, she advanced the economic and social development of women in Panjshir.

Senior Airman Ashton Goodman enjoyed interacting with and learning from Panjshir's women. She served as a member of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team's women's affairs committee and regularly organized events and projects to directly improve the quality of life of Afghan women.

On May 18, she led the tremendous undertaking to deliver much-needed food and house supplies to more than 100 poor women. As we drove up the narrow, steep, winding road to the village, she beamed with excitement over the chance to personally help these women.

Over the next few days, leading into Memorial Day weekend, she’d go on to mingle with female teachers during a “Teacher’s Day” celebration, participate in a women’s shura (meeting), attend a photography exhibit at Ahmad Shah Massoud’s tomb where she saw Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, one of the country’s presidential candidates, and sample freshly made ice cream in a local bazaar.

Senior Airman Ashton Goodman was instrumental in advancing women's affairs in Afghanistan's Panjshir province. On May 23, she participated in a shura, or meeting, with the Afghan Director of Women's Affairs and 20 local women and teenage girls. The group discussed future educational opportunities for the valley's women and girls.

Her contributions to this team are countless and now, as I look at the empty desk next to me in the small office I shared for the past month with Airman Goodman, I smile when I think about the past month I shared with her and the impact she made on Panjshir Province. Her vivacious spirit, zest of life, and eagerness to experience it all will forever be remembered by our team.

DVIDS

Update: Sad to report the following

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two airmen who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died May 26 near Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device.

Killed were:

Lt. Col. Mark E. Stratton II, 39, of Houston. He was assigned to the Joint Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C.

Senior Airman Ashton L. M. Goodman, 21, of Indianapolis. She was assigned to the 43rd Logistics Readiness Squadron, Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

God bless them and their families.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Mark Stratton, Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team commander, talks to villagers, March 4, about a Micro hydro pump provided by the Panjshir in Afghanistan. The micro hydro uses water to create power for the village. Photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

For more than eight years, the government of Afghanistan has been building from the ground up, using millions of dollars in aid from foreign governments and private organizations. These funds impact both the central government in Kabul and the country’s 34 provinces.

Due to the unique relationships the men and women of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team have with the people of the Panjshir province and the region’s local government, progress is not measured merely in dollar signs and projects completed – they are using these capabilities to teach the Panjshir people the ability to take care of themselves.

The PRT’s commander breaks his organization’s mission into three different areas to accomplish this, each reliant upon the other: development of roads allowing access to some of the more isolated villages in the province, ensuring the work within the Panjshir Valley is a ‘home-grown effort’ and creating conditions that make investment in the area sustainable.

“The people here want and need development,” said Lt. Col. Mark Stratton. “We really work with the local provincial government to help build these opportunities that will lead to private re-investment. One way we’re doing this is by paving the road to Badakshan and planning for the ‘rib roads,’ which will connect the people to the rich natural resource supply [that exists in the province].”

U.S. Army Sgt. Ramon Guzman, Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team Civil Affairs, walks past villagers during a site visit in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley March 5, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

In addition to developing plans to connect some of the more isolated areas within Panjshir with the ‘rib roads,’ the team also is working to increase production and efficiency in what the Panjshir people know and do best – agriculture.

As the majority of the province is dependent on agriculture, with some 95 percent of economy dedicated, the PRT works significantly within that area with the Panjshir government as well as in-house representatives from U.S. AID, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Luckily for the group, the Panjshir is recognized as a ‘model’ province, “with effective and legitimate governance capable of providing essential services to the people,” Stratton said.

As a result of the area’s significant security, the government and the PRT are free to work unhindered from threats that impact reconstruction work within other provinces.

“We work within the local government to teach self-sufficiency, as we are not going to be here forever,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Lancaster, chief of the Panjshir PRT’s Civil Affairs section.

One part of that effort is the team’s work with a local non-profit organization, the Massoud foundation, to donate $25,000 in micro-loans to the people of the Panjshir valley at $500 per family with zero interest.

“This will allow a person to buy a cow, start a business, whatever they want to do to take care of their families,” said Lancaster.

The program is managed with the Panjshir Valley’s Massoud group, which has an office in every province in Afghanistan and is named after one of the nation’s most celebrated heroes, who coincidentally is from the Panjshir region.

A Mujahadeen guard walks with U.S. military members of the Afghanistan Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team during a site visit March 5, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Photo by Staff Sgt. James L. Harper Jr.

“This is all about putting money in the hands of the people,” said Sadiqi, the Panjshir Valley Massoud foundation director. “It’s really a small investment that people can use to start their own businesses – there is no set payment plan, but after six months, they should be able to bring back the $500, we don’t charge them interest and we’ll loan the money back out to the next applicant.”

Other projects to enhance the region’s economic future include the development of chicken-raising programs, which allows women to receive 12 chickens to produce eggs that they will then be able to sell to their neighbors. Lancaster is also working with local officials and his U.S. Department of Agriculture counterpart to develop a series of crop projects that use dynamic growing techniques such as row cropping and drip irrigation to improve the survivability and validity of various fruit trees and wheat fields that can then be transplanted around the province to provide more crops, and thus, more income.

“The governor [Haji Bahlol]‘s main focus for this year was agriculture,” Lancaster said. “We are hoping that we will be able to teach them to grow enough crops to not only sell to neighboring countries for money, but also be able to keep some of what they grow for their own uses.”

For U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Kelly, who serves on Lancaster’s Civil Affairs team and is deployed from Riverside, Calif., the opportunity to take part in these unique projects has been a great experience.

“It is very fulfilling to me to help people in their time of need and during emergencies,” said Sgt. Kelly, who also serves as a humanitarian aid requisition, distribution and storage NCO. “Agriculture is a priority of what we do here and it’s been an extremely unique experience working here when you look at some of the other things I have done in the Army.”

“Saving lives is a part of what we do.”

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. Zachary Wilson