a clip from a news video by BBC News Japan
It was the last trip home to Japan from Afghanistan for Dr. Nakamura, who was attacked and killed in a pickup truck when his party reached Jalalabad, the morning of Dec. 4, 2019. All six of them, including the driver and bodyguards were killed. There are eye witnesses and a surveillance camera recording of the crime scene. Two cars and 9 people seemed to have been involved for the attack and the owner of one of the cars was arrested along with two associates, but they are denying involvement.
Dr. Nakamura was not any volunteer medical doctor, like those join doctors without borders. He could not look away from the fact that no amount of medical care can restore the health of people who do not have access to clean water and enough food. The drought stricken area was close enough to an excellent source of clean water, the Kunar River. What needed was irrigation canal system and better management of the river. He knew an irrigation canal system that Japanese farmers have built 200 years ago without a help of heavy machinery, and it is still used and maintained today. There was no reason that the Afghan farmers could not do the same, he thought. He persuaded and demonstrated the locals how to build an irrigation canal system that they can build and maintain by themselves. "All in all, the Afghan authorities in Nangarhar said, by the time of his murder his canals had improved the livelihood of nearly a million people, and irrigated nearly 60,000 acres of previously arid land." according to New York Times. Below is the map showing the areas that turned green by the canals he helped build and repair (taken from Water, Not Weapons produced 2016).
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| Map from Water, Not Weapons 50 min documentary by NHK World |
