Kapisa PRT visits Nejrab district to check on progress

KAPISA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The provincial reconstruction teams are military units that focus on the development and reconstruction of their assigned province.

The Kapisa PRT is a U.S. military team inserted with French Task Force La Fayette that enforces different development projects in the province. The PRT is composed of 80 people; among those 60 are experts in engineering, agriculture and foreign affairs and 20 are American civilian specialists who work shoulder to shoulder with the Soldiers in different competency domains.

Road repairs represent 15 percents of their projects. The remaining funds are devoted to construction of schools, clinics, government buildings and even cellars. They lead others projects linked to training.

“We work a lot of projects with the Afghan populace, but we are concentrated mainly on security, development, governance of their country,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Lori Adams, the Kapisa PRT deputy commander, during an operation in the Nejrab district of the province. “Beyond the help we can bring them, it’s important to have a strong relationship with the people of Kapisa, so we can be aware of their concerns and help them develop projects on their own.”

The detachment, accompanied by United States Agency for International Development members, often visits the Nejrab hospital to have meetings with Dr. Mustapha, the main doctor at the hospital, and check on how the different programs are advancing.

The “Strong Food” program is one of those programs in the advancing stages. For the local doctor, the first steps are to create a program to identify malnourished children. After that’s complete, the next step would be to provide them with the “Strong Food,” which is a paste made up of almonds, sugar, powdered milk, liquid vitamin supplements and vegetable oil  that helps restore appetite and weight.

Aside from visiting the district hospital the engineers of the PRT met with the contractors in charge of construction for the new Nejrab courthouse.

 “Today, I come to see my counterparts to speak about the advanced work and to understand his methods,” said Tech Sgt. William Cobb, an engineer for the PRT.  “I am not in a supervisor role because he is the only one who can support the successful implementation of the project”.

After the visit with the contractor, the American team went to the Nejrab market to do some shopping and speak with the residents of the district.

During their visit to the district the PRT handed out radios and stickers that help support OMID, TF La Fayette’s radio station.

Later that day, USAID members met the local responsible for “U.N HABITAT”, a United Nations program for human settlements, M. Kushkaki. 

“We spoke about the evolution of the program, which started 3 months ago,” said Jannie Kwok, the USAID representative with the PRT “Progress is important because today it exists in separated classes for men and women. Those enrolled in the program are really happy to learn how to read and write, it’s really a big change in their lives. The next step for educators is to encourage training in milk industry trades and wider in agriculture domain.”