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Iowa Forester Working to Improve Conditions in Afghanistan
FAIRFIELD, Iowa - Imagine going to a place without electricity, drinking water and few roads. The literacy rate is less than 25 percent for the population as a whole, and less than 5 percent for women. There is almost no communication with the outside world. The climate is semiarid and the mountains are rugged. Each village you encounter speaks a different dialect of one of two prominent languages in the country, and villages often cannot understand each other. And, occasionally, someone shoots a rocket at you. This is Afghanistan in the northeastern province of Nuristan, home to Ray Lehn since February. Lehn, 53, of Fairfield, left his job as a district forester with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to serve as a civilian member of the provincial reconstruction team with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Ag Service. Nuristan borders Pakistan, China and Tajikistan and is somewhat removed from the continuous fighting occurring in southern Afghanistan. Lehn works from a base camp of 250 security personnel and members of the reconstruction team with the purpose of helping the local villages with their livestock and crops. There are interpreters and two college-educated Afghans who assist the team. "Ninety-nine point five percent of the people love us because we are helping them out," Lehn said. "But there are some bad guys out there. They will shoot a rocket at base camp about once per month but they haven't hit it yet. IEDs [improvised explosive device] are the biggest problem. "I don't go anywhere outside the base without at least four armored vehicles and at least 20 security people," Lehn said of the base requirement. But his personal experience has found the Afghans of the region to be welcoming and friendly. "They always want to feed you," he said of the basic meal featuring a huge plate of rice, goat meat, unleavened bread and tea. "You drink a few cups of tea before you do anything." The work to improve farming and other basic services in the region is difficult and often moves at a slow pace. When the provincial reconstruction team arrives in a village, they visit the elders to get the ball rolling. They cannot advertise they are coming because in most instances in this mountainous region, there is only one way in and one way out, which is perfect for an ambush. "It's a tribal system. We meet with the village elders, drink tea and see what we can do for them. There is limited government and what government there is, is corrupt," he said. One project, called the Nuristan Conservation Corps, recruited 90 men of fighting age, 18 to 25, brought them to a camp and put them to work planting 65,000 trees as a reforestation effort to help replace the trees cut for use as fuel. Since access to water is such a huge issue in Afghanistan, the workers spent time digging irrigation ditches, building canals and pipe schemes to bring spring water to town. The men were paid and the work lasted a year. Lehn said they are currently working hard to build a district agriculture center near the base that can show crop demonstration plots, offer education and other services. One weeklong project, led by an expert from Denmark, showed ways to improve goat cheese production. The team also distributed veterinary supplies, including vaccines and food supplements for livestock, and distributed improved wheat seed varieties and fertilizer to villages that needed it. "It's been a good experience, but I miss home and my family," Lehn said. "I'll be glad to be back to Iowa for good." Lehn returned to Afghanistan on Dec. 6 to complete his one-year commitment. He will be home in the middle of February.
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