FOOD DROP - Big hit for those who can reach it

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Food dropped from sky is big hit for those who can reach it

By Stephen Franklin Chicago Tribune

KHWAJA BAHAUDDIN, Afghanistan — The downpour of crackers, jam, jelly and bean salad that began in the middle of the night woke up the dogs, terrified the donkeys and convinced me that the Taliban was attacking. But I couldn't figure out why they were hitting our house with what sounded like mud bombs.

I laid on the floor in my sleeping bag, half dreaming and half hoping the Taliban might just go away. That's when I heard the carnival outside. People sounded delirious. It was the Americans dropping food.

The last time the little plastic bags fell from the sky, many here were truly terrified by the thuds against their very modestly constructed mud houses. They thought it was an evil deed carried out by the Taliban, whose front line is only about 15 miles away, so close you can sometimes hear the U.S. planes and their bombs.

But this time they were prepared and so they wildly rushed toward the large empty field beyond the bazaar and next to the prison as the bags kept raining from the black sky.

I watched in amazement at the frenzy.

Some people lugged large bags, hoping to scoop up as many of the little packets as they could. Some dragged their donkeys, and stuffed the bags into the large carpet-like saddlebags. And a few leaped into open trucks, hoping they would drive away with a great catch of American food.

Most foreign relief agencies here view the regular U.S. food drops across Afghanistan as a noble, but inefficient, gesture. They say that it would be more efficient to provide food supplies to the agencies, which then would transport them via truck convoys and disburse them to the neediest.

When the refugees who live in straw huts or simple tents down by the river and far away from the town heard the next day that the Americans had dropped food here once again, they were deeply disappointed. They have yet to benefit from any of the packets that fall from the sky, they said.

"Tell the Americans we need food and tents. We are cold here," added 60-year-old Ibrahim, one of the leaders of the newly arrived refugees from the Taliban-controlled areas.

But some of refugees in the camp just up the hill apparently were able to get to the field where the food was dropped, because their children brought the food to school the next day to show it off.

"It is good for them. It gives them strength," said the school principal Divanakul.

As the bazaar opened for business, some people began selling their food packets, and some of those who bought the packets tried to sell them again for a slightly higher price.

Seated behind a mat where he had spread out three cigarettes, some matches, and some pens, 16-year-old Barhanudin was selling two of the food packets. "We have enough food and we thought we would make some money," he said. He had bought the packets for the equivalent of 20 cents and was selling them for about 40 cents.

But the thought of selling the food packets never dawned on 19-year-old Ahmet Shafek. Walking through the town just before sunrise, he came upon the crowd shouting about the food packets and quickly snatched up 10, one for each of his family members. As soon as he got home, his brothers and sisters opened the packages and ate them, he said.

"It is good food. It is delicious," he explained, adding that he especially liked the bean salad.

At the bicycle store near the bazaar, Kadretullah, 16, was fixing bicycles and regaling his teenage friends with his description of the joyful mayhem when he arrived at the field where the food packets were spread everywhere. "Everyone was saying, 'it's the Americans, the Americans,'" he said. "I was happy too because some people could have food for a day."

Nearby, little girls who had fashioned pocketbooks and little boys who had made carrying cases out of the yellow plastic food packets, eagerly walked up to me, waving the packets and shouting in Farsi and English, "teshekur, teshekur, thank you, thank you."

November 5, 2001

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Answers

Kewl...

The food drops may be inefficient, but it is good PR. Even if they sell it, it still gets eaten by someone.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001


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