Monroe woman breaks Afghanistan’s cultural gender stereotype

Most of us know or have heard about how badly women are treated in Afghanistan. Schools and jobs are not open to them, especially in culturally-conservative rural areas.

So when they see American women in uniform, doing the jobs restricted to men in their country it can give them hope.

A lot of Afghan women turn their heads when they first see Chandra Francisco. Some of them even turn and run. They’ve never seen or interacted with an educated young woman, especially one who also happens to be carrying an assault rifle.

Francisco is a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps. She’s on a special team whose mission is to reach out and talk to women and children the patrols come across in Afghanistan, since those women aren’t allowed to speak with the male soldiers.

“They live so controlled,” the 22-year-old Marine from Monroe told MyNorthwest.com. “They just don’t have the same freedom we have, and the poverty here is just, definitely, something else.”

Francisco said she hopes she can be an inspiration for these women and show them there can be more for them in their lives. “They do admire it,” she said speaking of how the women talk about her position of power and responsibility. “I think it shows them that women can have a stand and have some power.”

The experience is also changing her own perception of what it means to be a woman. “It’s one thing hearing about it or reading about it in books, but seeing it right in front of your eyes,” she said. “It’s sad, and it makes you appreciate all that you do have and all the opportunities you get.”

The Marine Corps created Female Engagement Teams last year to reach out to Afghan women. One goal is to make them comfortable with the U.S. military and explain to them what they’re doing while they’re in Afghanistan, and their towns. The other is to get information and intelligence from the 50 percent of the population that isn’t listened to.

Francisco said her best weapons are not her uniform and her M4 assault rifle – but her smile and a bottle of bubbles. Both are great ice-breakers, she said, especially for the children. “The kids get scared sometimes so I pull out my bubbles, and we have a saying ‘when in doubt bubbles out.’ It kind of eases the tension.”

Francisco’s father, Greg, said that his daughter is perfect for the mission because of her attitude and personality.

As for making a difference with these women who have so little, Greg said he isn’t sure. “It’s hard to say it gives them hope because, man, what a hopeless place. […] But just giving them that visual that this is how things are done in other places, this is what you can strive for.”

Francisco joined the Marine Corps in 2009, after she had spent a few years working after her Monroe High School graduation. She’s expected to return to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in October.