Courtesy Jon Rose"Perhaps the first clean cup of water in this Afghan girl's life," explains Rose.

About six months ago a U.S. Army Captain by the name of Michael Brabner reached out to us (Waves For Water) through our website. His battalion, called The Wolfhounds, is stationed in Northern Afghanistan in the Kunar Provence. He contacted us to see if we'd be interested in doing a project to help the Afghan communities in his unit's area of operation. He said that there were about five villages in his area and none of them had access to potable water. Apparently the Kunar River, which every village is built along, is their only source of water. And since everything (I mean EVERYTHING) is dumped into it, waterborne illnesses cripples these communities. 

I knew right away this Afghan project would be significant, but today was hands down one of the best experiences I've had since starting Waves For Water (W4W). We've spent the last three days embedded with the Wolfhounds, learning all about life in a war-zone -- living in their barracks, eating with them, etc. Cpt. Brabner had a relatively simple question: would our program work there?

It's no secret that Afghanistan is a hostile place, especially for Americans, but the majority of the local population have the same basic needs as anywhere else, and the fact that it is still a kinetic war zone brings the likelihood of humanitarian assistance down to a dramatic degree. At this point, whether or not you agree with the reasoning for being in Afghanistan in the first place doesn't matter, we are there, so it is even more important to make the absolute best of it, which Cpt. Brabner and his crew are doing. Their first objective is to keep the insurgents away so that the majority of the population can go about their lives without living in fear of being bullied and harassed by mafia-like Taliban forces, but in addition, through projects like ours this military unit has actively sought out new ways to help these villagers beyond their basic orders.

Courtesy Jon RoseCrossing the bridge into the village of Nari.

I see parallels between some of their principles and those of W4W. I have felt this way ever since we had the privilege of working side-by-side with the 82nd Airborne in Haiti. The entire military system is founded upon honor, respect, bravery, and discipline, but what they rarely get credit for is their compassion. Not only for one another, but for the local cultures they work amongst while deployed. I saw it in Haiti and I've seen it again here, these soldiers genuinely want to help the Afghan people to stop living in fear of the Taliban, and ultimately help them stabilize their country in the process. That said, when I think of this project, the partnership between W4W and The Wolfhounds, I'm becoming aware that we are all a part of something bigger. In addition to the obvious benefits the filter program will have on this region, we have created a unique opportunity to change several perceptions surrounding this war, and war in general.

One of the main implementing strategies of W4W has always been a "train the trainer" approach, which is something we actually lifted from military DNA long ago. It's basically empowering people through a tiered system that enables each level to do what they do best. For instance, this project we spent the first day here on base training a selected group of team leaders from this battalion. They are the ones who are constantly interacting with the communities in the region and have personal relationships with some of the key local figureheads. By empowering the first tier (the soldiers), we solidified them as the ones that would lead this project and see it through long after we were gone. The next step was for the team of newly trained soldiers to coordinate a "shura" (Afghan for meeting or gathering to discuss important matters) to pass the training onto a hand picked group of village elders and/or community leaders. Then, based off of their extensive knowledge of the local communities, those enlisted individuals would devise a distribution plan for each of their villages. It's an old model. We used this same approach in Haiti, with the ultimate goal being that we -- the foreigners -- do not retain any of the power once the program has been implemented.

Courtesy Jon RoseThe Wolfhouds securing the school where the water filter demonstration would take place.

This system really helps to integrate something foreign, like new technology, into a community. If we try to push this solution directly onto a family in Afghanistan, the likelihood of them trusting us, and ultimately using it after we're gone, is much lower than if it is presented to them by a friend or a community figure they know and trust. The ultimate goal for us is to implement a program this way, do an assessment of the region months later, and find that the families who are thriving because of it have no idea who we are. Their relationship is with the schoolteacher or medical clinic that provided them with the filter system, not the guys from "Waves For Water." If that's how it turns out then we have done our job perfectly. 

Today I saw cultural divides fall in a matter of minutes. We accompanied a group of female soldiers and their FET (female engagement team) team, lead by Lieutenant Lauren Luckey, into the nearby town of Nari. The FET team is tasked with trying to engage local Afghan women and work with them to help stabilize their communities. Women are simply not allowed to be seen in public, they wear full burkhas that leave no percentage of skin exposed. There isn't even a slit for their eyes, only a little mesh window in the fabric for them to look through. Because of the relationships that Lt. Luckey and her team had forged a few of us men were allowed to be present during the demonstration. The rules and traditions of this region are so deep rooted that an invitation like this is literally unheard of.

We watched in a secured courtyard as the FET team gave the very demonstration that we'd given them on base a day prior. We watched in awe as the brave few women who chose to stay -- only three out of ten stayed for meeting because they heard that American men would be present -- started assembling and using the filter systems. The finale came when a young girl, a student of the school, took what might have been the first sip of clean water in her life -- filtered from water she normally drank, urban run-off collected from a ditch outside the school walls where animals visibly defecated in it upstream. She'd drank that foul water all her life, and it will never cease to amaze me how much one of these water filters can change the entire course of people's lives. It was a good day.

Courtesy Jon RoseJon Rose is from Laguna Beach, Calif., a far cry from the deeply traditional Afghan mountains.

Being raised by hippie parents and choosing a career path as a pro surfer, I had literally zero experience with the military before starting my work in Haiti. The closest I ever came to the military was trying to sneak my way on to Camp Pendleton in San Diego because it is known to have good waves on base. But now having logged some serious time with our armed forces in two countries, I can speak with confidence when saying how incredibly grateful I am of their service. It is moments like these that truly showcase the greatness in humanity.

With the first phase of this project already completed, W4W and The Wolfhounds have effectively provided 20,000 Afghan's with access to clean water. The project is now gaining momentum throughout the military chain of command and the private sector alike. Phase two has already been funded (thank you Bill Nelson & HBO) and launched in January with 500 more filters that will provide an additional 50,000 Afghan's with clean water.