Bazaar school works to brighten future<\/strong> Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. \u2013 At 11 o\u2019 clock on a hot Saturday afternoon, Afghan kids ran out of a school and hurried to form a line. Their faces painted with dirt and crayon marks, the kids pushed and shoved one another causing a mini riot.<\/p>\n \u201cStop fighting or no one will get candy later,\u201d said Romanian Army Master Sgt. George Prodan, a morale wellness and recreation staff assistant with Commander, Kandahar Airfield headquarters barked in a loud voice causing erratic hands to stop in mid-air. As the children started the process of washing their hands, choosing a yogurt or fruit, and taking a sample pack of cookies, the Romanian Soldier smiled as calmness had finally set in\u2026if only for another minute or two.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to help the kids because they don\u2019t have many things and they deserve all the things we do for them\u2026and not just because they behave well,\u201d said Prodan. <\/p>\n Prodan said the Bazaar School has been open for five years at Kandahar Airfield and reaches out to over 50 Afghan children every time the Bazaar opens. The Bazaar is the marketplace where customers can buy merchandise sold by local nationals and parents usually will employ their own children as merchants. <\/p>\n \u201cThe parents who\u2019re a majority of the shop owners thank us because we take care of their kids while they set up,\u201d said Prodan. \u201cThe school is important because it may change not only child\u2019s view of soldiers, but maybe the parents too.\u201d<\/p>\n Each week the Bazaar school opens, International Security Assistance Force Soldiers and officers can contact Prodan to volunteer to work with the Afghan children. <\/p>\n \u201cIn some way I think this puts us in touch with the local population and it gives the kids an opportunity to meet people from different countries,\u201d said Spc. James Gorman, an intelligence analyst, with the 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion. <\/p>\n Gorman said he had fun playing soccer and interacting with the children, which is a good change of scenery. \u201cDoing this is a good change of pace for me because I work a 12-hour shift every day, so it\u2019s a good way to get away from the command for a bit.\u201d <\/p>\n All Bazaar school volunteers are ordered to put up their weapons and are encouraged to let loose their inner child once the kids arrive on site. \u201cWe\u2019re like the Muppets, but with standard operating procedures,\u201d said Prodan. \u201cIn a lot of ways the boys here remind me of my son and my wife, who\u2019s a teacher, is happy I\u2019m doing this.\u201d Once word spreads that it\u2019s noon, the children start to line up by the exit because they know what time it is. As each child takes two pieces of candy, they say their goodbyes to Prodan and tell him they\u2019ll see him next week. \u201cIf something like this would\u2019ve existed twelve years ago, who knows how things might\u2019ve changed in Kandahar,\u201d said Prodan. Who knows Indeed?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nby Sgt. Gregory Williams
\n3d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Public Affairs<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Bazaar-School.jpg\" "\\"Bazaar")
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\nSoldiers hand out toothbrushes to Afghan children as the kids leave the Bazaar School. ISAF volunteers are given the opportunity to interact with afghan children before the Kandahar Bazaar opens for business. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Gregory Williams)<\/em><\/p>\n