Narsula's Story

Narsula lives in an area from which Taliban forces had fired upon U.S. war planes. The Taliban used innocent civilians like Narsula and his family as human shields, forcing them to stay in their villages, even as those villages were used as launching points for Taliban offensives against coalition forces. After a significant pounding with cluster bombs, the Taliban were defeated and escaped.

Narsula and his cousin were out playing just a few feet outside their homes when Narsula's cousin spotted something bright and yellow on the ground and picked it up, perhaps thinking it was one of the food packets that had been air dropped. It began to smoke and Narsula yelled at his cousin to put it down. His cousin, frightened, threw it.

The Damage

The small but deadly bomblet from the cluster bomb exploded, injuring Narsula and his cousin. Narsula's legs and arms were so badly damaged that it looked like he would lose all of his limbs. Narsula's father, having been told that his son would die without the amputations, cried in anguish in the makeshift hospital to which Narsula had been taken. Hearing his cries, a doctor from Germany arranged for Narsula to be flown to Germany where perhaps he could be treated, with his legs and arms possibly saved. The doctors did an incredible job and Narsula kept his arms and legs. Still, Narsula has difficulty walking, is in constant pain, and needs a lot of medication every day to help in his healing. There is virtually no money to pay for all this and Narsula, by telling his story, has become the family bread-winner.

The Bread-Winner

Narsula had incredible strength as he told us his story. At one point during our talk, he got up and left the room. He returned undressed to make it easier for us to see the horrible wounds he endured from the cluster bomb. The press had come to Narsula's house so many times to hear his story and photograph his wounds that he had taken to asking for some payment before he would show them his injuries. He knew how hard Global Exchange was working to establish a victim's fund and couldn't understand why our government was against helping him and his family directly.

"We had a good life before this all happened. I heard Laura Bush on the radio, promising to help us. Where's the help? We haven't gotten anything yet! Why would she say all those things if they weren't true? I just want my life back, the life I had before all of this happened. When will America give me my life back?"

Can A Boy Still Play?

Craig Wiesner asked Narsula what kinds of games he would play with his friends. Narsula answered "I'm afraid to go outside and touch anything. I don't play any more." Craig spent the next few minutes thinking about that and decided that he would teach Narsula a game that he could play no matter where he was. Craig taught Narsula Tic Tac Toe. Then, David Mineau taught Narsula how to play arm and thumb-wrestling.

Prior to coming on this trip, a few people asked "What good can you possibly do in a week." The answer became crystal clear in Narsula's house. For a few minutes while members of the delegation played with Narsula instead of talking about the war, it seemed like Narsula could be a little boy again. He smiled, laughed, and played, just like an eight-year-old boy should, if only for a few minutes.

Realizing that paper was in very short supply, Craig mentioned to Narsula that he could also play Tic Tac Toe just by drawing the lines, X's and O's in the sand. "I'm afraid to touch the sand." Narsula replied, reminding all of us that it was hard for anyone to just be a little boy when surrounded by time bombs waiting to blow up. Several of us tore paper out of our notepads and handed it to Narsula and Craig taught Narsula how to draw smaller lines so that the paper would last.

Just Waiting

Littered across the entire country of Afghanistan are ticking time bombs made by countries including Russia, Iran, Iraq, China, and the United States. According to one expert, "Afghanistan is like a museum of landmines, bombs, and other explosive devices. Stuff made all over the world for the last 50 years ends up here."

Cluster bombs have anywhere from a 10-20% failure rate. A single bomb releases over 200 bomblets. That means for each bomb used by coalition forces, at least 20 bomblets remain on the ground, unexploded, needing only to be touched, shaken, or heated to the point of exploding.

The delegation learned about the extensive efforts being made to remove these remnants of so many years of war and the brave people who risk their lives removing these unexploded weapons. A sought after job, demining pays $130 a month, plus meals. Over 1,400 people work for just one organization, HALO Trust, which during our visit celebrated the destruction of 1,000,000 mines since they started de-mining in Afghanistan. There are potentially another million mines and UXO's (unexploded ordinance) waiting to be removed.

The United States, Japan, the UK, the European Union, other countries and many charities are helping to pay for this extensive effort.

Let Us Pray That Children Can Play

On Friday June 21st, our delegation held an interfaith prayer service in Kabul. Among our delegation were two women who had lost loved ones on September 11th. Also attending were over 100 Afghans who had lost family or whose family had been injured by coalition bombing campaigns. Is the pain any different for an American or an Afghan? No.

Loss is loss. It knows no ethnicity, no national identity, and no single religion. Instead all of our faiths call for us to care for the widow, the orphan, and all who grieve. How much more incredible when those who grieve support each other!

We prayed together, Christians, Jews and Muslims, for healing, for peace, and for forgiveness. Narsula and his family were there too. We sang together, sharing our pain and hope. We ate together, sharing what little we had so that all could be fed.

Please pray for the victims of these left-over weapons, the people who risk their lives to remove them, and for a change of heart so that no more of these weapons are spread around, waiting to harm innocent people.

What good can a person do, visiting a place like Afghanistan for a week? At least we can help a little boy smile and tell his story for him, so that he doesn't have to. And maybe, if we tell the story enough, we can prevent this from happening to other people. Pray for us all.