Nad-e Ali blog 10: Panettone anyone?
There are various truisms about this job which have been passed on to me which I'd like to share with you: "never miss the opportunity for a brew, a sleep or a toilet stop". Wise words indeed. And "there is no such thing as a bad leave". Having just got back from an excellent break with friends and family - and loaded up with the essentials of life, Italian panettone and amaretti (from Rome no less. Thanks, Rad!) I can heartily agree.
However, it's a strange and unsettling feeling to be enjoying a leave break when the military friends you leave behind are in action and suffering casualties. Within a day of me leaving Shazad, 42 Commando had one marine killed. And, as I was flying back into theatre, 3 more. The UK media cover the deaths with, rightly, sombre and sympathetic coverage. A lot less is said about those who are wounded - often with life-changing injuries. One of the Company commanders - a youngish Major who I had come to admire - was, sadly one of them. An excellent bloke: clever, funny, enthusiastic and sensible - he was on the receiving end of shrapnel from an IED which, thankfully, did not kill him but has left him with lung injuries which will take some time to, hopefully, recover. It's times like this when, as I have written before, you do wonder if it is all worthwhile. I have nothing but admiration for 42 Commando: they redouble their efforts and "crack on".
It's not just the military temperature which has risen. Yesterday it was 46 degrees in the shade. The generator which powers our compound could not cope, over-heated and cut out. No power, no lights, no communications - and, almost worse, no air-conditioning. And believe me, metal ISO containers are not built to operate without air-conditioning. It was some 7 hours before the generator had cooled down enough to re-start. By then it was 37 degrees indoors. Could I actually air-condition the generator? Even the military communications systems are packing up in the heat. And it's only early June!
Meanwhile, back on the work front, 42 Commando have just removed the Taliban from the village of Loy Mandeh Kalay to the north-east of us. I got up there for the first time the day after I got back. A refurbishment of the badly damaged, deserted bazaar is probably the best way we can help the community there get back on its feet after 3-4 years of Taliban occupation. It is certainly what they have asked for. It used to be a thriving centre of trade and commerce. Hard to believe when you see the state of it now. Work has started with us paying contractors to clear as much ground debris as possible. And we are working with the Mayor of Nad-e Ali district to register the shopkeepers and see how we can best help them rebuild.
It'll be a long job - and a long, hot summer ahead. Slice of panettone anyone?