Female Engagement Tea

Well-equipped modern medical facilities are few and far between in Afghanistan. The World Health Organization defines access to health care as a two hour walk ( 8 to 10 miles) from a functioning clinic.  In Afghanistan, however poor security and harsh terrain often prevent access to clinics only a few miles away, and even when there is a clinic, it is usually short even the most basic medical supplies. As a result, Afghan villagers have extremely limited health care, and most Afghan women, restricted to their family compounds, have never seen a physician.

Navy LT Michelle Lynch, a medical officer with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, recently led a female engagement team to some of these village compounds to provide these women much needed health care. "They are kept away from mainstream culture," Lynch said. "Their needs are easily overlooked."During an earlier medical outreach, Lynch had observed poor nutrition among pregnant and breast-feeding women, so she distributed Carnation Instant Breakfast to the women to help keep them and their children healthy.

Such provision of health care is a key means of assuring the Afghan people that the government can meet their needs. The National Military Academy of Afghanistan, the Afghan equivalent to West Point, currently has 12 women enrolled in the pre-medical curriculum. One of them, Nargis Shirzad, says, "I want to help our poor people and our war-stricken country." After graduation, she plans to make a difference for her fellow Afghans as a doctor with the Afghan National Army.