Female Engagement Training offers American military insight into Afghan women’s

By Air Force Staff Sgt. Sarah Martinez
RSC-East Public Affairs/NTM-A Public Affairs

 

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – U.S. Army Lt. Col. Linda Holloway, Female Engagement Team program manager from Huntsville, Ala., ends a training course Sept. 30 at Bagram Airfield with a quote from an anonymous author, “…Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors. They’ll drive, fly, walk, run, or e-mail you to show how much they care about you. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning. They bring joy, hope and love…however; if there is one flaw in women it is that they forget their worth.”

Twenty-nine Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen from different task forces traveled near and far to attend five days of training, Sept. 26 – 30, on how to become effective FET members. Some attendees from NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan came out just to learn more about the females of this country to better themselves personally and for the military.

The FET is a specialized program that is tasked with engaging local populations, specifically women, to find out Afghan society’s needs and problems; address security concerns; and to form a bond between the Afghan women, military and interagency partners.

Each FET team consists of two fully trained and qualified female military members. One member acts as an interviewer, who asks several questions, and the other as the recorder, who writes down all the information collected during that engagement.

“We should try and learn what they lack and need so we help them,” said U.S. Army Capt. Brandy Hinton, 25th Infantry Division, Commander’s Emergency Response Program manager from Syracuse, N.Y. “There is a lot we can give and share with the Afghan women and we can also attempt to help them think for themselves.”

The students learned a plethora of subjects during the weeklong class such as Afghan women’s history, Dari, Pashto, rule of law and Islam.

“I liked learning about the culture, the Koran and all the laws that state what rights Afghan women already have,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Caroline Tran, Taskforce Maverick military policewoman from Dallas, Texas. “It’s important we reach out to them because the Afghan women make up 51 percent of the population.”

The students learned a lot in one week, but they also learned from each other. Some students had already engaged with Afghan females teaching them how to raise chickens and make a “super food” that would help with hunger.

“We have to take hold of the opportunity to help this country and its people better themselves but not in our way, the American-conventional way, but the way of Islam,” said U.S. Army Spc. Tina Hyndman, Taskforce Bronco medic from Idaho Falls, Idaho. “Afghan women are an untapped resource and a possible door to a better future.”

The last day of training, the students got their certificates of completion and headed back to their missions. Each student was now armed with the knowledge and skills to engage Afghan women in hopes to empower them to better themselves.

“I hope the FET members communicate with the Afghan women more now that they’re trained and make them understand that they need to stand on their own two feet,” said Dr. Aisha Daley, Korean Hospital, obstetrics and gynecology, from Kabul, Afghanistan. “Afghan women need to understand they have rights too and should be treated equally.”

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Category: Gender, Literacy, News - News