What's your favorite food?

Afghan students study English at a school outside Mazar-e-Sharif.


RC North PAAT members video tape students for a video pen pal project between Afghan and American students.



One Afghan student is interviewed for the pen pal project in front of the school house.


An Afghan child's shoes tell the story of his trip back and forth to school down mud packed trails.

Master Sgt. DeRemer walks with Afghan students after filming the video pen pal project. They were eager to practice their English with American servicemembers.

After a productive trip to meet with the German Public Affairs office at a nearby base, we had an early start to our day as we headed out to film a video pen pal project with local school children. We took step one today of the Afghan National Army initiative to foster relations between Afghan and U.S. servicemembers’ children. Footage of the children in an English class, as well as, individual interviews will be packaged and sent to various American students around the world.

We were greeted in English by each of the students who were eager to share their newfound language with us. We watched and listened as they took turns reading sentences about telling time. One particular boy was very proud of his ability and spoke in a much louder voice when it was his turn to read.

After they finished their lesson, we stepped outside to film the individual interviews. One of the questions that we asked them was, “what is your favorite food?” I have to admit that up to the point of the loud talking young man, I felt like our interpreter was guiding their answers. However, with no coercion, the boy responded “meat.” My knee-jerk reaction was confusion – meat? Really?

Later, as I thought about his response, I realized that one; he was being genuinely honest with us. Two; he likes meat the most because like the things we like most, we don’t always get them when we want it - he liked meat because he didn’t get it on a regular basis.

His honesty reminded me of the reality people of Afghanistan face. It’s easy to get wrapped up in what I am doing here and the tasks that consume my time, but this short visit made me think about my being here. Providing for a better future in Afghanistan is our goal, and I hope in some way we can succeed – even if it only means that the boy’s family can provide meat for him more often.

Stay tuned for more adventures in just another day in my life.