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Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror
Saturday, June 29, 2002
By Julia M. Bolz
World Concern

Joint military efforts have brought initial stability to Afghanistan. However, long-term success in this country, as well as in other developing countries, also requires compassion -- a human touch.

As I walked through the market in Mazar-e-Sharif, the peace shattered. People scrambled under stalls and into stores, and an Afghan colleague quickly shuffled me to safety. Another face-off had occurred between the Afghan troops, which were trying to confiscate illegal weapons, and local men carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers and assault rifles. The skirmish lasted only minutes; then people resumed their bartering. It was just another day in Afghanistan -- another day that I thanked God for being alive and well.

Reflecting on my three months as a short-term aid worker in Central Asia, my heart remains with a group of individuals who became my heroes. They are the relief and development workers serving in Afghanistan. We do not hear about them often in the news. Living and working with the locals, they are the long-term builders of peace and stability, eliminating poverty and despair -- one kind gesture at a time.

I met this group while working in Afghanistan this winter and spring. I was with Seattle-based World Concern, one of the leading international relief and development organizations in that region. It has been providing goods, services, opportunities and hope to the poor and the oppressed in Afghanistan for 22 years.

My chief role at World Concern was to expand its current relief efforts in northeastern Afghanistan, where it is serving 65,000 people, into the central region of northern Afghanistan. My work included setting up an office in Mazar-e-Sharif and researching and writing a grant proposal to the U.S. government. The proposal aims to assist 28,000 people in the Balkh Province by addressing their lack of food and job security, health and well-being, and education. This assignment gave me a first-hand opportunity to meet with local Afghans, speak with dozens of aid workers and see their projects, and experience Afghanistan's harsh living conditions.
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2002 © Horvitz Newspapers, Inc.

Dan