On November 25, peacekeepers of the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT-10) distributed winter caps that people of Lithuania knitted and delivered via a campaign „Warm caps for children of Afghanistan".
Accompanied by representatives of provincial Education Department PRT-10 members toured three schools where around 1,5 thousand Afghan children receive education. Peacekeepers spent time communicating with pupils and presented them with caps from Lithuania.
Some schools in the capital Chaghcharan are closed because of low temperature - they will receive the caps from representatives of Ghowr Education Department.
„We handed over around two thousand warm caps and just as warm regards from Lithuanian people. We do our best that the caps were delivered to as many kids as possible", said Head of PRT-10 CIMIC Division Maj. Vaidas Šepkus. „We visited one secondary girls' school and two boys' schools, another three thousands of caps will be taken to remote locations of the province during PRT patrols."
According to the soldiers, local children were the most impressed that each gift was personally hand-made by someone from Lithuania and sent with best wishes.
The humanitarian campaign „Warm caps for children of Afghanistan" lasted from August to September inviting Lithuanians to knit warm caps for children of Ghowr province. It was organised by the tenth rotation of Provincial Reconstruction Team and „Caritas" Lithuania, the project was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. About 5,000 of knitted, crocheted and felted caps were handed over to troops and „Caritas" representatives.
„The project exceeded our expectations, Lithuanians willingly joined the humanitarian campaign. We hoped to collect around five hundred caps but ended up with ten times as much instead; people continued contacting us even after the final date and we took every cap for it could keep a child in Ghowr warm throughout winter," said coordinators of the project.
Participants of the campaign included people in Lithuania and expatriates foreigners volunteers working in Lithuania, members of „Caritas" or other religious, governmental and non-governmental organisations and institutions, and senior students.
Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė also sent a gift - her hand-made woollen socks - for children of Afghanistan.
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Lithuanian-led PRT took up responsibility for security in Ghowr in June 2005. PRT is a joint military-civilian mission operating under International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Its main task is to help Afghan Central Government extend its authority in the province, and to ensure security and environment suitable for provincial reconstruction.
Together with around 120 of Lithuanian military and civilian personnel, representatives of Denmark, Croatia, Georgia, Ukraine, Japan, Romania and the US provide security in Ghowr. Recent PRT-10 is formed on the basis of the 1st Territorial Unit of the NDVF Dainava Military District.
PIO for PRT-10 1st Lt. Skomantas Povilionis
Picture by Lina Ambroževičiūtė.
