Flag Day

There was a parade in Camp Northern Lights in Mazar-e Sharif, and all Finns were ordered to be there. We left early in order to make it there on time. The parade was like parades usually are, tedious and either hot or cold. This time it was hot, and I felt the sweatdrops run down my back. The lunch was something out of the ordinary to celebrate the occasion. In fact, it was suberb.



After the lunch there was the FIN-brief and an intelligence update for the team leaders. Then we drove back in a minor sandstorm.

A funny thing happened yesterday. There was, as so many times before, a delegation of Afghan gentlemen at our gate - asking for things, what else. This time the problem was that the drinking water dam in their village, Hasan Khel, had burst due to the floods, and now the villagers were running out of drinking water. I told them that we would not be able to visit them for the next few days, but we would be happy to come and take a closer look, before giving any kind of answer to their request. Then they presented their grand idea: they wanted us to take one of the T-55 tanks that are lying everywhere around here, to transport the tank to their village, and to put it in the dam to repair it! They were serious and thought that it was a great idea. I told them that the tank would certainly rust and eventually spoil their drinking water.


The delegation from Hasan Khel village.