Remembering always

West Islander Major Stéphanie Godin deeply moved by experiences

Major Stephanie Godin. By P.A.Sévigny The Suburban When asked to describe the sights and sounds of Afghanistan, Major Stephanie Godin told The Suburban it's more a case of never being able to forget the smell of Afghanistan. "Poverty has a smell," she said, "and that's what I'll always remember about Afghanistan." Born and raised in Montreal's West Island, Godin knew she was a long way from home when she found herself on patrol with the rest of her unit in Afghanistan's Hellmand province. As a working public affairs officer for the Canadian Air Force, the major was taking care of public relations for Canadian provincial reconstruction teams working in and around Kandahar which gave her plenty of opportunity to see how and what the nation was doing for the people of Afghanistan. Apart from the obvious and endemic poverty which now defines Afghanistan after almost three decades of civil war, Godin said she would always recall her expe- rience with ordinary Afghans and how she was impressed with the strength of character which helped them endure what is, at best, a difficult life. While the nation has a long way to go before it finally gets back on its feet, the major was pleased to tell The Suburban how Canada's presence in Afghanistan has done a lot to improve the daily life for a lot of people. "If people in Kandahar are complaining about garbage collection, we must be doing something right." she said. "When you think about what they could be worried about, you would think picking up garbage would be the least of their worries." While she admits she could talk about Afghanistan for hours, she said the country still needs a lot of help to heal the damage done by over three decades of civil war. "It's not one thing," she said. "It's everything at every level." Even as Canadian reconstruction projects include everything from building dams to improving Kandahar's garbage collection, Godin believes the Canadian reconstruction effort is reaping its own rewards on a daily basis in ways most Canadians would never believe possible. While most Canadians consider building schools to be nothing more than a routine bit of municipal business, it's something else when the Canadian government builds a school for women in Afghanistan. As a Canadian project, Godin inferred this is the kind of initiative which sends a powerful message about Canadian values and priorities which will be heard and hopefully respected by the Afghan people for years to come. While she seemed to be reluctant to discuss the government's decision to pull Canada's forces out of Afghanistan, she did say the nation's future depends upon how the Afghan army and police will fare when left to deal with the Taliban on their own. As for her own experience, she said she was happy to have played a small part in what many describe as a complicated mission "but I was glad to be there and I was more than happy to do what I could to help these people." n

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