Old Girls in Afghanistan

L to R - Capt Vanessa Fletcher, SQN LDR Heidi Hartel, and LAC Alex Senior.  WN 08-0042-05.

1 April 2008

By Captain Vanessa Fletcher, Medical Officer

Three ‘Marlborough Girls’ old girls have swapped their Napier Tartan skirts for desert camouflage. Heidi Hartel, Alex Senior and I (Vanessa Fletcher, nee Weenink) are part of the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (NZPRT) based in Bamyan, Afghanistan.

We were evenly spaced at College and had not met before working together. However, we all share common memories of Blenheim.

Heidi Hartel is an Air Force Squadron leader. Her role as an officer is to coordinate the logistical support for the NZPRT. She has been reminiscing about warm sunny Blenheim days during the harsh Afghan winter. Temperatures have been as low as minus thirty five overnight. The cold has created several logistics challenges, especially with vehicles. These have been overcome with perseverance and special heaters for engines. Supplies are often delayed due to snow blocking the high passes border in the NZPRT.

Alex Senior is an Air Force medic. As a patrol member, Alex lives and breathes the life of a soldier on the roads in the Bamyan districts. Her job is to look after the other 11 members of her patrol and to act as a driver and cook. The Kiwi’s are all very healthy, so Alex has been concentrating on her four-wheel-driving skills. Alex reckons some of the roads here are just like trying to drive down the banks of the Wairau and not on the worn tracks. There are some potholes here that you actually drive down into and out the other side.

I am an Army Captain, the Doctor for the NZPRT. This is my second winter tour in Bamyan. I was here two years ago and I’ve noticed some major improvements. I think there are nearly twice as many health clinics around the province now and the local hospital has been substantially upgraded. There is still a massive gap between what New Zealanders regard as standard medical treatment and what is available to the average Afghan. I think the landscape is a little similar to New Zealand's in some ways. There is a hill behind our base that looks a bit like the Wither hills, but drier and on a grander scale. Barely any vegetation thrives here and the dust is the dominant feature of the summer. The dust is one of the reasons the locals die so early from lung diseases.

Alex and I work together when she is back in the main base and Heidi and I have become good friends as fellow officers. Although we’re enjoying the different experiences and are working hard, we’ve all talked about how great it would be to be back in Blenheim enjoying a nice drop of the local produce.

Ends

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