Farah, Afghanistan (Feb. 08) – Around six hundred families in dozens of villages spread out for miles around Forward Operating Base (FOB) Lavaredo are slowly gaining back security after years fearing insurgent threats.
One small part in this is the opening of seven shops in a bazaar just outside the gates of FOB Lavaredo in Bakwa district.
Italian Col. Paolo Sfarra, Commander of Regional Command-West (RC-West) Task Force South East, explains that opening these shops is one part of growing the local governance in order to build trust in the community.
Sfarra said, “The villagers are used to living alone without any support from the local government.” “These shops reinforce the local governance in order to convince villagers that they can ask for support,” he said, “If we are able to create this positive circle of trust, we will be able to give Bakwa a secure future.”
The shopkeepers of Bakwa originally asked for monetary assistance from Lavaredo.
“In the beginning the shopkeepers asked for money to start their stores but we refused,” said Sfarra, “Our intention is not to pay them to work but to provide them with the tools to work.”
According to Sfarra, it is now the responsibility of the shopkeepers to take the goods, sell them and use the money to buy more goods and keep the loop going.
FOB Lavaredo has hired out some of the construction efforts around the bazaar to the Arshad Wafai Construction Company (AWCC). The AWCC provides work for local villagers by hiring workers to build up roads and pathways around the bazaar.
Ali Hossain Erfani, an engineer from the AWCC is encouraged by the program.
“The security in this area is getting better day-by-day,” Erfani said, “I think this is a really good program in cooperation with the Afghan people.”
Cooperation with the local villagers is something Italian 1st Lt. Ganluigi Rubini, assigned to RC-West Task Force South East, is concerned with on a daily basis.
“We look in on the shopkeepers every day,” Rubini said, “We ask them how business is going, how many customers they have had and if they have any concerns.”
The bazaar also provides Rubini with a general sense of the local villagers’ attitude towards the progress of security in the area. “We do this to encourage them to continue working and also to get a feel of the attitude of the local population,” Rubini said.
He also encourages the shopkeepers by telling them coalition forces are doing patrols of the area and are watching for threats to their safety but reminds them that “Along with our cooperation it is up to you to do business with the people,” he said.
Currently the bazaar has six grocery stores and one bakery. “The bazaar has over 50 shop sites available,” Rubini said, “In the future we expect more to open.”
The work here is slow but Rubini has hope for the future. “In Afghanistan everything starts quite slow,” he said, “You have to start with their confidence and trust. This is the spark to start everything.”
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