New mosque for Afghan National Army
11 Feb 08
A British Major has overseen the completion of a new mosque for the Afghan National Army in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
The new mosque near Camp Shorabak in Helmand Province
[Picture: Cpl Rich Denton]
The mosque was built for the soldiers of the Shorabak Training Facility near Camp Bastion as the remote geographical position of Camp Shorabak meant the soldiers were without a communal place of worship nearby.
The Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers first contacted the British Operational Mentoring & Liaison Teams in the adjacent Camp Tombstone who in turn approached the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Lashkar Gar. The PRT then put together a proposal for the project and work got underway in early September 2007.
The contract was given to 'Nationwide Corps', an Afghan company based in Kandahar which employs only local Afghan workers. Plans were drawn up in consultation with the ANA and the PRT and a ground-breaking ceremony was then performed by the ANA at the location for the new mosque.
Major Marc Steventon of 2 YORKS (2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment), the Quartermaster at Camp Tombstone, was appointed as project manager to supervise the work, ensuring that guidelines were being met and that the correct resources were available and being used:
Inside the new mosque
[Picture: Cpl Rich Denton]
"The building of this mosque has been a great success," he said. "It has been built by local Afghans, using local resources and using local building techniques; all of which is hugely important and significant.
"The additional key thing to bear in mind also is that there was no heavy plant equipment used at any stage of the project; the men didn't even have a cement mixer, which means they basically built the whole thing by hand.
"An amazing achievement, which they are duly proud of, and which has now given the Muslim soldiers of Shorabak a place for daily worship."
Forty workers, mostly from either Kandahar or Gereshk, were used on the project which took just over four months to complete.