From Port Saxon to Afghanistan

By Greg Bennett

The Coast Guard

NovaNewsNow.com

Cordelia Perry has always had an adventurous spirit.

When she graduated from Shelburne Regional High School in 1988 and enrolled in university in Halifax she had no clue what she wanted to do with her life.

But even the former Port Saxon woman couldn’t have imagined spending a year in war-plagued Afghanistan with the US Army as an educational specialist.

She spent her year in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor helping U.S. and other coalition soldiers with their educational needs, often working seven days a week to help.

She says it was an extremely rewarding experience to work with the soldiers and help them upgrade their educations.

Afghanistan offered a culture shock for her though.

There was great poverty among the people.

There was danger too.

At least once a month the secure building she worked in would be shaken by the nearby blast from a suicide bomber. Often nights were spent in a bunker with sirens wailing warning of a rocket or mortar attack.

For Perry, it was also difficult to feel like a prisoner within the relatively safe confines of the U.S. compound in Kabul.

The distinct sound of machine guns in the night would often be heard, reminding her and the other civilians working in the compound why the guards and walls were necessary.

“I was ready to leave,” she says. “They had asked me to extend my contract but I declined. It was time to come home.”

Although Canadian troops are scheduled to finish their mission in the country in 2009, Perry believes it will take many more years of intervention before Afghanistan is stable.

“I think it will be two generations before we see real change,” she said. I’m not sure that the west has the commitment to see it through.”

After finishing her work contract she returned home to Shelburne County for a short visit before heading back to Germany, where she will spend much of the summer.

She plans to head to university in Halifax in the fall to finish her Masters degree.

After that, she says it is anyone’s guess where she’ll end up.