March 2004

Female personnel of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
with ISAF commander Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier in Kabul, Afghanistan.
By Ed Frieser

CF officers bring IWD ideals to life

By Ruthanne Urquhart

A brainstorming session in Kabul, Afghanistan has resulted in a flood of cash in support of Afghan women, and three Canadian Forces majors have marked International Women's Day in a big way.

Just five days before March 8, Majors Deborah McKenzie and Theresa Norsworthy were discussing what they could do to mark International Women's Day. They decided on a calendar featuring female personnel of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stationed in Kabul, with proceeds from the sale of the calendar benefiting Afghan women in distress. They enlisted Maj Rita LePage (Media Liaison), and the three pulled it all together. The idea received immediate approval and support from all the key players at HQ ISAF.

"We desperately wanted to do something for women in Afghanistan over and above what is required in our day-to-day jobs," said Maj Norsworthy. "The support and encouragement we have received has been very rewarding, and has given us hope that our small idea and group effort may have a greater impact on women's shelters here."

The small idea became the "Military Women assisting the empowerment of Afghan Women" calendar. Shot free of charge by Dutch photojournalist Ed Frieser, the calendar features a group photo of female ISAF personnel and Canada's Lieutenant-General Rick Hillier, the new ISAF commander, on the cover. Inside pages highlight personnel from various member nations of the force including Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the U.K., the U.S., and others.

"The role of women in Afghanistan, extremely suppressed by the Taliban, is fundamental to the future prosperity of this country," said LGen Hillier. "This calendar project is one small way the military women of HQ ISAF can assist Afghan women to move forward and take their rightful place in Afghanistan public and political life. These personnel are to be commended for their initiative."

CF female personnel of the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan.
By Ed Frieser

Sold out

The original plan was to sell the April 2004 to March 2005 calendar during International Women's Week, with "all proceeds going to women's shelters within the Kabul city area," Maj McKenzie said. "I don't believe anyone can imagine the oppression that women in Afghanistan have faced until they actually see it with their own eyes. I cannot tell you how privileged I feel, that we can perhaps make a small difference to these women."

The print run of 100, which took about 10 hours to produce on the equipment at hand at HQ ISAF, sold out in an hour, raising about C$1500. That was as far as the original plan went because "we don't have a lot of time or resources here," said Maj LePage. "But we are all women who have choices, who had the option to serve, and we wanted to do something to help give the same possibility of choice to Afghan women."

Like all good plans, this one took on a life of its own. Mr. Frieser arranged for a printer in Brunssum, the Netherlands to produce a second print run of 500 (also free of charge) so additional orders from personnel in Kabul can be filled. And e-mail traffic between Kabul and Canada has gone from Wednesday morning-volume to Friday night of a long weekend-volume.

"We are continuing to take orders from military members here, and the calendar has been very well received by everyone," Maj McKenzie said. "Of greater surprise is the response we have received from people in Canada. I can only hope they fully understand how fortunate we are as Canadians - perhaps raising the awareness of even just a few Canadians will make this all worthwhile. However, what is most important is trying to positively affect the lives of these women in Afghanistan."

Majors McKenzie, Norsworthy and LePage very much want to continue with this project, but "we absolutely cannot make more copies here," said Maj LePage. "The printer has to be babysat through the whole print process, and the first 100 copies took a huge chunk of time away from our 15-hour work days.

"We are in an impossible position in terms of taking orders from Canada. It would be wonderful if someone at NDHQ or elsewhere in Canada could take this on."