What Will I Be When I Grow Up?

In our childhood, how many times did we hear the question appearing in the title?! The answer was never easy. Our role models were our parents, family members or friends. However, children who grow up as orphans without family will find the role models in their environment. This is the case everywhere in the world. Unfortunately, the 45 residents of the orphanage located in the town of Pol-e Khumri – the area of responsibility of the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT-12) stationed in Afghanistan – do not have the chance to grow up in a loving family.

The CIMIC (S9) cell of the HUN PRT-12 acts as a sort of patron to help improve the children’s living conditions and their education. During an open day, the kids were introduced to the work of the Afghan National Police (ANP), the European Union Police Mission in Afghanistan (EUPOL), the German maneuver battalion and the Hungarian soldiers.

While the older kids were being introduced to military and police duties, trying out the car sirens and giving commands through the loudspeaker, the younger ones were drawing pictures of the events. In addition to learning about the soldiers’ and policemen’s work, they had opportunity to “heal" the soft toy animals at the “Teddy Bear Hospital" with the doctors’ assistance. They had time to do sports too, because the soldiers of the camp were happy to play football and fly kites together with the kids.

Needless to say, by the end of the day we had an answer as to what career the somewhat tired but happy and smiling children would choose: “I will be a policeman, a soldier or a doctor".

 Photo: HUN PRT-12 PAO