Though the focus on war in Afghanistan has slightly faded from the news limelight, its results are vivid for Bill Criswell and the Freeland based Impact Teams International.
Criswell, president of the international relief organization that focuses on restoring communities destroyed by war, famine and political upheaval, and staffer Jamin Henderson, returned July 21 from a two-week field visit to the Afghan village of Istalif.
Located a couple miles north of Kabul in the breadbasket of Afghanistan, Istalif was once a bountiful village with orchards and over 1 million grape plants.
However, Istalif was deserted after 20 years of Taliban destruction and its people fled to refuge camps in Pakistan.
The village has been manned by ITI staff for almost two years, and the rebuilding of the village’s once intricate irrigation system, houses, medical clinics and schools continues as an ongoing project. But Criswell’s July visit marked the delivery of 10,000 “Thompson 2A” grape plants.
Delivering grape plants to Afghanistan isn’t an easy a task, assures Criswell. Before the war, Afghanistan was tough competition for California’s Central Valley grapes, so simply finding someone to sell the plants to Impact Teams for the project was a difficult task. Transportation of the grapes required a custom made refrigeration unit, and the hassles of international customs.
“National security stopped us a couple of times, because they weren’t that sure of people saying they were sending grapes to Afghanistan,” Criswell said.
In addition to the delivery of the grape plants, Impact Teams is developing an agricultural experimentation and training center at the village. Consider it an extension office, Afghanistan style. The center will teach agriculture techniques like drip irrigation, trellis grape production, and the introduction of new plants into the region, including some Washington state apple varieties.
While Criswell and Henderson were in Istalif, agriculture experiment center volunteers and visiting grape experts from the U.S. trained the first 20 farmers to receive grape plants.
Even though the grape plants are in and the village is being rebuilt, the work is far from over. Only recently have the villagers of Istalif began to return to the Afghan ghost town.
“We have a five year commitment to the village,” Criswell said. “The focus now in Afghanistan is economic development. We can send relief supplies forever, but the minute you stop all the work you’ve done is wiped out.”
Already, Criswell said a change in Afghanistan can be witnessed on the streets of Kabul.
“I didn’t feel unsafe at all. These people are truly the most friendly and welcoming people, and they’re appreciative of all the efforts to help them,” Henderson said.
Impact Teams International has project teams around the world. Locations aided by Impact Team volunteers in the last couple of decades have included Mauritania, North Korea, Iraq, Bosnia. Operating under Impact Kids, the group also has help missions primarily dealing with children’s health. Funding assistance for relief projects is raised by Impact Team’s Second Chance thrift store in Freeland. For more information about volunteer opportunities, write Impact Teams International / Impact Kids: P.O. Box 596, Freeland, WA 98249; or call at 331-7811.
