I got an email the other day from a woman telling me about the work her sister is doing in Afghanistan, and she wanted to know if I would share the story with my readers. I told her that I would be happy to.
Michelle Johnson is currently serving her second tour of duty with the US Army in Afghanistan. In late December of 2008, a 13-year-old pregnant girl arrived at the base. She had been in labor for 24 hours, but the baby had still not come out, and the girl was given a 10% chance to live through the situation. I won’t get into the (gory) details on this site, but you can read about the account here.
Since local culture dictates that a male could not see the girl in that state, Michelle was called upon to assist in the procedure with the girl, taking direction from the doctor in the next room. She helped save the girl’s life, and afterwards began to wonder about the quality of medical care for females in the region.
She discovered that the females-only clinic in the province was severely understaffed and underfunded, so Michelle and two of her friends started going over to the clinic three days a week to work for a few hours at a time, delivering free medical care and supplies.
Here’s a summary of what Michelle and her friends do at the Free Afghanistan Women’s Clinic:
This effort is done in our spare time. We get all of our medical supplies as well as medicines and humanitarian aid (shoes, clothes, etc) from donations. We rely solely on these donations to keep the clinic up and running. Everything that we get goes directly to the patients. With over 70% of the population living in poverty, they couldn’t afford medical treatment even if they desperately needed it.
I love the example that they are setting for others with this endeavor. Far too often our soldiers are unfairly maligned and misunderstood. The reality is that they have an extremely difficult job to do, and they volunteer to do it so that the rest of us can live our lives in peace and safety.
When they go above and beyond that already honorable call of duty, as Michelle has done, it shows that our common human qualities of service and charity know no national boundaries. She is serving her country in the U.S. Army, and she is serving the people of Afghanistan as well.
I’ve learned something from her example: Give what you are able, wherever you can, and whatever the circumstance.
For more information on what Michelle’s doing and how you can help, please visit the Afghanistan Women’s Clinic, or follow them on Twitter.
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