James Donally

Christmas Festivities and New Year Plans

The festive season in Musa Qala is passing relatively peacefully and so we have been able to enjoy a little Christmas cheer in the camp. Christmas Eve saw my military stabilisation team colleagues and I introducing our Afghan friends and colleagues to the traditions of a British Christmas - Santa, gifts, turkey and alcohol-free beer.  Our local friends had located some turkeys and the District Governor's cook was tasked to "halal" the birds and cooked them into some sort of brown curry-type meal. It was delicious. Thanks to our various families' welfare parcels we were able to pool our goodies to show our friends such delights as mince pies, etc. And on the day itself the army chefs did us proud with real turkey and real ham, all without a hint of spam.

And what hopes do we have for the coming year? Firstly, 2009 will be election year in Afghanistan and we are busy now beginning the process of voter registration in Musa Qala. Linked to this must be our drive to reassure the local population through the improved security situation and the commitment of the Afghan government and security forces to stay the course in this part of Helmand. Later in the spring Musa Qala will have the chance to obtain some large-scale investment by the Afghan government in the form of the Afghan Social Outreach Programme. But that depends on the performance of the local authorities here so my primary task must be to mentor them through that process.

On the domestic front there has been talk of an upgrade in our living conditions here in camp with the arrival of some portakabins in place of our concrete cell, but this may be one of those things that remains just talk.

And spring 2009 will see the departure of this Battle Group and the arrival of the next one, which will be my third. The Gurkhas will be a  hard act to follow.

So here's to a peaceful and prosperous 2009 in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Posted at 21:10 08 January 2009 by James Donally  |  Comments[2]

The PM....and more spam

It is an unusual day in the lives of Musa Qalans when the UK Prime Minister (literally) descends on them. In addition to the obvious morale boost for British forces based in Musa Qala it was an important opportunity for the PM to hear first hand from Afghans about the successes and challenges in their district. Exactly one year ago Musa Qala was returned to Afghan government control and a reconciled Taliban commander is now the District Governor and another is the District Chief of Police. The fact that the PM could sit and chat with gentlemen such as these and other elders from the district was quite a feat in itself. Of course such “surprise” visits don’t just take place on a whim – much preparation and rehearsal is needed.

For security reasons it was not possible to inform our local partners who the visitor was or when he was arriving until the last minute, but the vagaries of Afghan time-keeping mean that people are used to hanging about for hours sipping tea. And in a region without TV or newspapers it is unlikely they fully understood who they were talking to. However, they do like “England” (as they call it) so were happy to receive a distinguished visitor from there. Fortunately, minimal coaching was required for the local leadership since the story they have to tell is real and reasonably positive.

Reading about the PM’s press conference later I think he got their message that better security in Musa Qala means the government can improve the lives of its people in this remote outpost. Meanwhile, back in “real” life in the camp the Christmas tree has gone up, real bacon has been removed from the menu and our favourite spam is back for every meal. But this morning there was an orange for breakfast.

Posted at 16:30 14 December 2008 by James Donally  |  Comments[1]