Tetsu Nakamura (affectionately called Kaka (Uncle) Murad) was a Japanese physician, who was devoted to building canals in Nangarhar, Afghanistan. Nakamura noticed that many health issues were complications of drought including malnutrition and unsanitary environments.
After noticing the correlation, he stated:“One irrigation canal will do more good than 100 doctors...this helps an entire village”. With only inspiration from classic Japanese techniques, he built the Marwarid canal (spanning 25.5km, irrigating 16,000ha, and supporting 600,000 people) with villagers and without modern equipment. This transformed the Ganberi desert to lush and fertile lands, suitable for farming - providing sources of income. His work also included building 2 mosques with schools, 2 hospitals, and 11 dams. Nakamura even risked his life, escaping machine-gun fires from US helicopters and protecting levees from dangerously overflowing water.
Due to his work, he touched the lives of many Afghans, providing them with water, food - and therefore a source of income, medical attention, schooling and religious sanctuaries. This resulted in Kaka Murad becoming the first person to be awarded an honorary Afghan citizenship by the prime minister. Unfortunately, he was assassinated only 2 months later in December 2019.
Japan and Afghanistan mourn their beloved humanitarian.
Written by Sahar
Media by Ben Hyland
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