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By PENNY FLETCHER
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We hear a lot about the military part of the war in Afghanistan but rarely do we get to hear about the Afghani people.
Most of the news coming out of Afghanistan is about death and destruction: more schools demolished, more suicide bombers and more government corruption. Then, there are the reports about drugs and Sharia law being implemented in Taliban-controlled territories. Stories are churned out by politicians and governmental officials, but do any of us here in the States really have any idea what the general population of Afghani people want or need?
Penny Fletcher Photo
Michelle Atkins moved to Valencia Lakes between Wimauma and Sun City Center Oct.1 after a 21-year career in the Army. Starting as an AN (Army Nurse) she gradually worked her way up through the ranks to end as a Lt. Col. and worked with the civilian population around the world, including helping to establish relationships with the U.S.-supported government in Afghanistan.
Not until July 29 when I met Michelle Atkins Schaefer did I hear real life stories about real Afghani people.
That’s because Michelle, now resident of Valencia Lakes on U.S. 301 in Wimauma, a half mile mile north of Sun City Center, has recently returned from a very different kind of military tour in Afghanistan. She was working with the Afghani people to try and improve relations between them and their American-supported government; and with the American people.
Her most recent title was Lt. Col. and she was Deputy Commander of a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Panjshir.
“We were trying to win the hearts and minds of the people,” said the former nurse who was “switched” over to work with civillians becaue of the various experience in her pre-war and wartime files.
Now 57, her military career began when she was 35 and she had to sign a waiver because
when she started (as an AN- Army Nurse) it was obvious she could not reach retirement age in the service.
She didn’t care. She just wanted to experience the things she had recently heard about from a woman who had been on a humanitarian effort in Egypt- where she herself finally ended her career just a year ago.
Michelle grew up in suburban New York City and moved to Arizona to get a Masters Degree in nursing from the University of Arizona in Phoenix and it was there that she met the woman who changed her life while on a river raft trip. She met her husband Bill, now also a retired military officer, much later, but now has been married 17 years.
After spending 18 years as an AN, she went to Officers Candidate School and then to Commanding General’s Staff School. Soon after that she was moved into “civil affairs” so she could work directly with foreign civillians.
“It’s too hard for Americans to imagine how isolated the people are in Afghanistan,” she told me. “Just picture America before the Pony Express.” It takes days to get from one town to the next, in a country with no roads, electricity, running water or plumbing.
One of the things she is proudest of is the huge strides have been made for women.
“There have even been women elected onto Councils which are mainly run by men, so that means men are voting for them,” she said.
The funniest thing she has seen also tells her the most about progress there: a billboard with a woman talking on a cell phone.
“First- it’s a woman, without her face covered. And then, it’s the cell phone itself. In a country with so much isolation, cell phone companies are busy putting up towers so people can communicate.”
Also a veteran of the Gulf War, Michelle respects family ties and says they are important to preserve. Besides a stepson she “inherited” from Bill, she also has one sister, Rosalynne Miller in Tampa Palms; two brothers, one in Tamarac (Fla.) and one in New York; and parents Stan and Gilda Atkins in Sun City Center.
Since her recent retirement, she has kept busy singing with “Sing Live Tampa” and as a Royary Exchange Coordinator with a Tampa Rotary group.
“I have been facilitating placements of foreign exchange students here in the U.S. and helping high school students from here attend school overseas,” she said. Anyone who wants to find out more about this may contact her at
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.
She is also available as a speaker about her experiences in many countries of the world. "People all over the world are really a lot alike. They just want a peaceful existence, and don't want to be surrounded by war," she said. "They want to get up and raise their families, just like we do."
*Perhaps you have something you’d like to share. Or maybe you’d rather tell the community about your favorite charity or cause: or sound off about something you think needs change. That’s what “Over Coffee” is about. It really doesn’t matter whether we actually drink any coffee or not (although I probably will). It’s what you have to say that’s important.
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me any time and suggest a meeting place. No matter what’s going on, I’m usually available to share just one more cup.
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