Jonathan Auger returns from Afghanistan
Afghanistan, August 2007, 9 pm. Through the dark night, a Canadian convoy travels towards the Canadian military base in Kandahar. Although risks are lower at night, the soldiers are tense. There are only 19 kilometers between the soldiers and their base, but the stretch of road is strewn with roadside bombs, the Taliban’s favorite weapon.
“I wasn’t afraid of dying,” says Sergeant Jonathan Auger who has just returned to Canada. “I knew I’d come back home alive. I know it’s naïve, but you must believe that if you’re going to get through it.”
Getting though it takes on a whole different meaning when at war. Auger, who is pursuing a political science degree at the Université de Montréal, is a civil-military tactical operator at the heart of the reconstruction team in Kandahar.
Although he always looked forward to coming home, Auger says he is happy to serve in a Canadian mission after a decade of training. “The provincial reconstruction teams help the Afghan government increase its authority, help it govern more effectively and create a more secure environment in which reconstruction is possible,” he says. “Short-term projects such as building wells and the restoration of irrigation canals instantly helps the population."
Have efforts to liberate Afghanistan and rebuild the country been in vain? No, according to the soldier: “Even if huge challenges remain in Afghanistan, we must be patient. It will take the country more than a decade to climb the human development index. Despite the adversity, we must persist and not turn our backs to a population that sees us as their last hope.”
French version of this story >>>