On 15 May 2009, Ms Sultana Parvanta from Afghanistan delivered a guest lecture at the Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast (HQ MNC NE). The presentation was part of a series of Mission Preparation Lectures, which shall complement exercises and other training activities prior to the deployment to Afghanistan next year.
Mission Preparation Lectures
Major Tomasz Garbarczyk from the Headquarters’ G3 Division, who is in charge of organising Mission Preparation Lectures, explained that Ms Parvanta’s visit to the Headquarters was very much related to the developing partnership with the Joint Force Training Centre in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It turned out possible that the lady as a Subject Matter Expert could support not only the Training Centre in Bydgoszcz, but also the Headquarters in Szczecin in a mission preparation process.
The lecture was very valuable for soldiers getting ready for the mission since the Afghan perspective was presented to them. Ms Parvanta, apart from being employed at university and doing some charity work, has a job at the Independent Board, which is called the Dehsabz City Development Authorities. The Board’s functioning is related to the largest economic development project in the region of Dehsabz, north of Kabul. Within 15-20 years in that region a completely new city is going to be created. The board consisting of ministers and representatives of the private sector is responsible to the President of Afghanistan.
More diversity, better understanding
As Ms Parvanta said, “I think it is very good that the soldiers have a diversity of opinions because Afghanistan is a very diverse country; there are lots of different ethnicities and groups so even though the soldiers are getting a very good preparation from the military experts, it is also good to see what Afghan people think”. In her briefing, she focused on presenting the structure of the Afghan governance and the flow of information between all its levels. The MNC NE soldiers wanted to know more, for example, about the elections that are going to take place in Afghanistan and the perception of the international forces by the local population.
Ms Parvanta noticed that the upcoming elections are simply a good exercise in democracy for the Afghan people. She also mentioned that comparing the situation in Afghanistan now and eight, nine years ago, a huge positive change has been made – “The country was so destroyed that even though you do a lot good, it does not show up at once, but there has been a huge improvement in the sector of communication, health or education – in every area.”
It is important to add that this lecture was not the last one. Major Garbarczyk said that some other Subject Matter Experts would be invited to the Headquarters to complement the mission preparation process.
Comments