Every time we deployed to Kosovo we had to take over an area

“Every time we deployed to Kosovo we had to take over an area and try to deal with the security situation there. Most of the problems were within communities, so we had to go and identify the causes. One of the villages, in particular, had no fresh water despite a natural spring feeding into their town. As we were approaching we noticed a big restaurant, we went there and it turned out that all of the fresh water was going to this individual, meanwhile, the people in the village had to buy bottled water. But that wasn’t even the main issue. We discovered that Ireland had built a school there a few years beforehand, and after construction, the local authorities simply didn’t connect the taps to the main water sources. My commander at the time was very direct about this issue and said he won’t provide any more support until I got him a photograph of water coming out of the taps. After weeks of meetings between my platoon and local officials, we finally overcame years of inaction, bringing clean water inside the building with a newly dug well. When it was done, I traveled back to take the photo, and seeing the happiness on the children’s faces as they played with the water made it worth every struggle.”

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