A judo coaching session for girls in Kabul, Afghanistan, conducted by a female Flt Lt serving in the RAF. After seeing an article in "The World of Judo" magazine, about the state of judo in Afghanistan, a female Flt Lt decided she could help. As a former GB international, a qualified coach and the captain of the RAF ladies judo team she contacted the President of the Afghan Judo Federation, Zakaria Assadi, to ascertain what could be done.




The result was a two-day training package in Kabul and the donation of 30 mats from the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF) Judo Association and £2,000 worth of judo suits from Fighting Films, a UK-based martial arts equipment supplier. The Flt Lt is an RAF officer serving with the British detachment at Kandahar in Southern Afghanistan. The British presence leading NATO's International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) in the region is tasked with stabilising life south of the capital Kabul as well as regenerating society within Kandahar and neighbouring Helmand Province.



U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jon B. Woods, a medical officer, examines an Afghan girl's loose tooth during a village medical outreach in Andarh village, Daychopan district, Afghanistan, June 12, 2006. DoD photo by Sgt. Andre Reynolds, U.S. Army.