The Torch: Development in Afstan

The Globe and Mail has one of its rare good headline moments:

'One step at a time, one village at a time'
Slowly – and not without danger – Canadians are helping ordinary Afghans rebuild their lives

CAMP NATHAN SMITH, AFGHANISTAN — Sometimes, when the Taliban aren't breathing down their necks, the guys like to tease Captain Bob Wheeler by calling him the Duke of Dand for all the largesse he gets to hand out in the district around Kandahar.

In truth, there isn't that much money – a couple of thousand dollars here and there – and his superiors aren't fond of the image of a soldier as seigneur. But, noble or not, Capt. Wheeler is an enormously influential guy in the Dand district of Kandahar province.

As the point man for Canada's civil-military reconstruction effort, it's his job to see that money for projects is spent wisely on the things that Afghans need. More important, he needs to ensure that the credit goes not to Canadians but to the people struggling to build a civil society in this war-torn country.

If all goes well, Canadian officials meet with village locals to help them identify their needs and tell them there will be aid if they organize the work themselves. Then, when the project is finished, Capt. Wheeler comes to inspect and arranges to pay the bills.

On Saturday, for example, he travelled 15 kilometres in an armed convoy from Kandahar to the dusty village of Ghanzi to close the books on eight new wells that had been dug at a cost to Canadian taxpayers of maybe $2,500.

A village leader, Mohammad Sawer, took him to most of the pumps, proudly showing the water that flowed from them. He couldn't stop smiling. Later, in another village filled with wrecked tanks from the Soviet era, Capt. Wheeler inspected the $4,000 in renovations that were being done on a mosque while a large group of residents, clearly pleased at the new carpet and fresh paint, followed in his footsteps.

“One step at a time,” the 46-year-old Newfoundlander said of his morning's work. “One village at a time.”..

...it was only after the end of Operation Medusa, the fierce offensive last autumn in Panjwai and Zhari districts, that the wheels started moving. From an almost standing start this winter, the influence of the PRT, which combines the military, civilian police, Correctional Services Canada, CIDA and the Department of Foreign Affairs, has spread in Kandahar province.

Nearly 400 projects have been planned or completed since February, more than in all of 2006. They aren't necessarily big time; the vast majority cost just a few hundred dollars. (CIDA's $5-million contribution to a polio vaccination program is an exception.) And they certainly aren't splashy...