Life on Kandahar airbase - Afghanistan
More than 13,500 people live on the Kandahar international airbase in Afghanistan. Armed forces from Dutch, British, French, Canadian, US are just some of the twenty or so nationalities that make up the living population of this ever growing town, situated in one of the most dangerous regions of the country.
Life on the airbase can be pretty monotonous, each day being similar to the day before, but the troops from the various different nations stationed here make the most of their lot with a mixture of stoicism and humour.
After focusing on the British army working and fighting in the region and around the base, I found out that my flight had been delayed(for 5 extra days). So I focused my attention on the air base's communal centre called the 'Broadwalk'. A big wooden-planked pedestrian square lined with shops that feature kebabs, French pastries, doughnuts, pizza, burgers and other delicacies. You can eat, shop for rugs or check out the internet , a surreal home-from home environment made to looked very north American. In the square there might be a touch football game or a volley ball game, or even a hockey game which the Canadians seem to have a monopoly on. I joined one of the American regiments, the 95th from Alaska for a game of touch football, and found they played the game with the same amount of energy and vigor that they put into fighting the Taliban.
