By REBECCA BILLS
HE WAS the first Australian diplomat to be posted to Uruzgan, Afghanistan in July 2009 and the last to leave in 2013.
Fred Smith, who now spends most of his time based in Canberra, is bringing his time in the war-torn country to the stage through song.
Combining humour, commentary and a stunning set of projected photographs by military and civilian photographers, Mr Smith is able to tell the stories from someone who was there and witnessed it all.
Mr Smith said he commenced working for the Foreign Affairs Department when he was 26 years old and that was the time that he started to write songs.
“When I would go away on holidays from Afghanistan, writing was my outlet, it would all just pour out,” he said.
“You were working six and a half days a week and living in a shipping container with a war going on around you.
“It can be quite fun but then every now and again someone you are working with gets killed – it’s quite an intense experience.”
Mr Smith said his show, The Dust of Uruzgan, was for the Australian public to learn what Afghanistan was all about and to understand the experiences of 10,000 young Australians who, for the past eight years, had struggled to make a difference in one of the poorest provinces in a war-ravaged country.
“It’s been a slow process of improvement,” he said.
“It wasn’t in good shape when the coalition forces started coming in after 9/11.
“The economy had gone to scratch, conditions for women were appalling and only one million kids were in school – none of them were girls.”
Mr Smith said although there was still a long way to go for the country, there had been a big improvement since his initial time in the country and there are now eight million children in schools – 3.2 million of them girls.
“Health facilities are improving, life expectancy is going up and they now have a reasonably cohesive government as the elections went well,” he said.
“There is still a long way to go but there has been a big improvement and that’s one of the things I talk about in the show.
“I’m in a fortunate position to talk about this.”
Mr Smith said after leaving for Afghanistan in 2009, he returned to Australian in 2011 and recorded his album and toured the country.
“In 2013 I went back to Afghanistan for six months and was involved in a few of the ceremonies to hand over the country to authorities and remember the soldiers that were killed.”
Fred Smith: Dust of Uruzgan is showing at the Burrinja Theatre on Thursday 19 June, Montrose Town Hall on Saturday 21 June and The Memo in Healesville on Friday 20 June.
Tickets $22 for adults and $18 for concession.
For more information or to book tickets, call 1300 368 333.
THE Mail is giving three lucky readers a chance to win a double pass to Fred Smith: Dust of Uruzgan at Burrinja Theatre, Montrose Town Hall and The Memo.
To go into the draw to win two tickets to one of the events, visit the Mail Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MailNewspaperGroup and like, comment either ‘Burrinja’, ‘Montrose’ or “The Memo’ (for your preferred venue) and share the related post.
Winners will be announced on Wednesday 18 June at 10am on the Mail’s Facebook page.
