NURISTAN
PROVINCE,
Afghanistan,
Jan. 2010 –
Nuristan
Provincial
Reconstruction
Team’s
female
engagement
team visited a
remote village
in the eastern
part of the
province here
to provide
medical care
and personal
hygiene
training to
children Jan.
16 and 17.
|
Navy
Petty
Officer
1st
Class
Kathleen
Leach
and
a
female
interpreter
teach
girls
in
Afghanistan’s
Nuristan
province
how
to
brush
their
teeth
in
a
personal
hygiene
class
conducted
by
the
Nuristan
Provincial
Reconstruction
Team’s
female
engagement
team
Jan.
16
and
17,
2010.
U.S.
Air
Force
photo
by
2nd
Lt.
Natassia
Cherne
(Click
photo
for
screen-resolution
image);high-resolution
image
available.
|
|
Navy Lt. (Dr.)
Jennifer
Dreiling, the
team’s
senior medical
officer,
provided
medical
treatment to
more than 50
children. Most
children had
common cold
symptoms, body
aches, skin
rashes and
gastrointestinal
complaints.
“I think it
was very
successful,”
the McClean,
Va., native,
said. “It
was nice to
treat children
for once; we
don’t see
that
population
very often.”
One girl came
to the medical
civic action
program to
receive a
referral for
her arm, which
was severely
burned when
she was young.
The scar
tissue on the
burn was
preventing her
from moving
her arm.
Dreiling
referred her
to the Indira
Gandi
Children’s
Hospital in
Kabul, which
treats
children and
also gives
family members
a place to
stay for free.
The girl’s
brother said
he heard an
announcement
of the medical
outreach
program on the
radio. He knew
she needed
special
treatment and
brought her
in.
The team also
offered
personal
hygiene
lessons to the
children, with
topics such as
brushing their
teeth, tips
for treating
sore throats
and the
importance of
washing their
hands.
Navy Petty
Officer 1st
Class Kathleen
Leach,
operations
specialist and
a Smithfield,
R.I., native,
taught the
personal
hygiene
classes to the
boys, while
another member
of the team
taught the
girls.
“This was
the most
rewarding
mission I’ve
done,” Leach
said. “I
feel like we
positively
affected the
local populace
and it was
nice to teach
the children
health and
sanitation. We
were able to
give back to
the
community.”
The female
engagement
team plans to
conduct future
missions for
Afghan women
and girls.
(Air Force 2nd
Lt. Natassia
Cherne serves
with Nuristan
Provincial
Reconstruction
Team public
affairs.)
