Volunteers take donations to Kabul’s only Children’s Hospital

 

By SrA Samantha Krolikowski
NATO Training Mission- Afghanistan, Public Affairs

Forty- four people volunteered to take donations to the Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital, Kabul’s only Children’s Hospital , Aug. 9.

More than $1,200 worth of cleaning supplies, hundreds of school supply kits, clothes and toys were donated to the hospital.

“The money came from Camp Eggers personnel donations – but the clothing, toys and school supplies came from our friends and family back home and from Soldiers and contractors here on Camp Eggers,” said Volunteer Community Relations Program Director, Sgt. Jaclyn R Hill.

The hospital is equipped with a total of 350 beds, with a NICU, Infectious Disease section and Emergency Room. Many of the children, who are patients at the hospital, had their mothers next to their side.

“That said, the one thing that was so comforting was to see all the mothers there right beside their children, helping the doctors and nurses care for them,” said Hill. “I feel better knowing that the hospital and their staff are doing the best they can with what they have and that is definitely a cause worth supporting.”

“The cleaning supplies will help with the overall sanitation of the hospital and hopefully the toys will help raise the spirits of the children a little,” said NTM-A CJ6 Chief, Capt. Troy Shettlesworth. “The knit hats for the infants and blankets will help during the upcoming winter months.”

According to Hill, this was the first trip to the Children’s Hospital, but it’s an important cause and the VCR Program will continue to support this hospital.

“Honestly, just the act of visiting the hospital, showing our support and spending time with the children and mothers is a big help in itself,” said Hill.

“I would encourage service members to be as involved in as many opportunities to be ambassadors for their countries as their work schedules permit,” said Shettlesworth. “People tend to forget that the Afghan people are also victims of the insurgency.  We are here to assist the Afghans defeat the insurgents and do what we can to help the community and the Afghan government overcome the hardships that decades of war and the previous oppressive regime saddled them with is another way to do that.”

NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan is a coalition of 38 troop contributing nations assisting the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in generating a capable and sustainable Afghan National Security Force ready to take lead of their country’s security by 2014.  For more information about NTM-A, visit www.ntm-a.com.

Tags: afghanistan, camp eggers, childrens hospital, community relations, donations, Feature, featured, Kabul, nato, nato training mission, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, NTM-A, volunteer

Category: News - General, News - Medical, News - News, Uncategorized