His name is Chris Doggett, and outside of this blog, you may never know his name or hear his story. In addition to heading up our Seattle BH2O+ planning team, he is a Captain in the US Marine Corps. He served in Iraq during one of his deployments. Much like Jake, he saw the tangible effects that extreme poverty has on terrorism. This is his story.
Late into my deployment to Al Fallujah, Iraq in 2006 the city was hit simultaneously one day by four suicide vehicle bombers. The city was immediately put on lockdown; no civilian traffic was allowed to be on the streets as we searched the reminder of the city for additional suicide bombers. As the sole combat engineer officer assigned to the infantry battalion, I deployed with the battalion commander to assess damage to the primary bridge that connected the city to the West over the Euphrates River. The bridge served as a strategic asset for coalition forces and had been targeted twice before during my time there by suicide vehicle bombers and numerous small arms attacks. Because of its importance, the Iraqi Army had an outpost located on the bridge to protect it. Unfortunately, the suicide attack that occurred that day led to the death of an Iraqi solider who was standing watch on the bridge. As we searched the area we found the charred remains of the driver who had been launched from the vehicle when it exploded. From what remained of him, you could tell he was a frail young male in his late teens or early twenties. He had much darker skin then Iraqis, and more than likely was recruited from a foreign country like Sudan.
Protecting against suicide attacks continue to be the toughest aspect of counter-insurgency operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan. As I heard about Nuru’s vision and what inspired Jake to take on the fight against extreme poverty, I was reminded of the experience I had in Iraq.
There is no reason that people have to live in extreme poverty. We are so blessed with money, knowledge and resources to enable those who live in extreme poverty to live better lives and provide the basic necessities for their families.
This is why Chris is involved, and he has made incredible sacrifices and worked extremely hard to make sure BH2O+ happens in Seattle. He balances work, grad school, and BH2O+ planning. He even drove into Seattle (an hour commute and ferry ride each way) to two of our events to meet people and encourage them to get involved with BH2O+.
We are honored to have him and all the other amazing volunteers working with us. Behind every event, there is a team of people working tirelessly to make sure this year’s event is going to be spectacular! I hope you get a glimpse of the incredible caliber of individuals we have working on BH2O+. If you aren’t already involved with BH2O+ in your area, email bh2o@nuruinternational.org to find out how you can get plugged in! It will be an experience you won’t want to miss working alongside people who will inspire you and move you to do more.