6 November 2007

Having the opportunity to come to Lebanon to clear the land of this dangerous threat (sub munitions) is awesome. Clearing the land so that children can play in the garden and farmers can tend to their lands and start earning incomes and get their lives back to normal without fear of death or injury is really satisfying. The work can be hard and frustrating at times, clearing through dense vegetation and village rubbish in the 35 – 45 degree heat, but seeing the people getting straight back into their land as you clear it is very gratifying. It’s times like these that help you get through the tough days and make the job we are doing all the more worthwhile.

As this is my first deployment, I was quite unaware of some of the other aspects of being a soldier away from NZ. Such things like getting amongst the villages, meeting new people and learning the Lebanese way of life and customs makes the job a lot easier.

Since arriving, and once we found our feet, our local driver ‘Issam” organised a game of soccer against a local village team. It was quite an event as most of the village turned out to watch and cheer on their local team which was awesome to see. Issam used to play soccer for Lebanon so we made him a temporary Kiwi for the match and after a hard fought game we were beaten 5-6 which isn’t so bad considering soccer is the national sport of Lebanon, and most the Navy guys here with us have two left feet. After the game we did a haka which the village both enjoyed and appreciated. It capped the day off wonderfully.

Since we have been here we have been lucky enough to be invited to a carnival in the village where we are currently working. We took part in donkey racing, sack racing and tug of war. The donkey racing was something different and a lot harder than the men of the village made it look, but everyone was keen to give it a go. It turned out our very own SNO, LT CDR Leslie had a hidden talent for this unique sport and won his first heat. In the final he was lucky enough to have one of the faster and more cooperative donkeys and won the race. After the victorious donkey race all the kids lined up for the sack races.It was awesome to see the kids with big smiles on their faces despite the hardships they have faced over their short few years.

The gratitude and warmth shown to us that day at the village carnival extended further when the village performed a traditional Lebanese dance in appreciation for making their village safe. Seeing CAPT Andy Mercer join in was another experience I will not forget in a hurry.

Even though we are over here working very hard to help clear southern Lebanon of the cluster munitions we are still getting out and about learning and embracing the local culture and hopefully we will be able to continue this throughout the remaining time we are in Lebanon. Working in a joint environment (Navy and Army) is one I would recommend to any young soldier.

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