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Prince pays a surprise visit
Edition 1168, June 14, 2007 |
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Royal inspection: WO2 Shane Johnsson shows work from the Trade Training School to Crown Prince Willem-Alexander.
Photo by Ruud Mol |
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A ROYAL visitor has made a surprise visit to Dutch and Australian troops in the central Afghanistan province of Oruzgan, in the process meeting up with an old friend.
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands made a special stopover at the Australian-run Trade Trading School to view the work of its students and hear about the progress the school has made in developing local capacity.
WO2 Shane Johnsson, who runs the school, said he was honoured by the Prince’s visit.
“It was a bit of a surprise actually, but he seemed impressed with what he saw here,” he said.
Earlier, the Crown Prince dined with an old school friend and now Australian soldier, Bdr Jozef De Goode.
Bdr De Goode said it was great to see his old friend again, albeit in very different circumstances.
“My last memory of the Prince was at our joint 10th birthday party at the Royal Palace of Soestdvinen – I beat him in go-karts that day,” he recalled.
The Trade Training School is a popular initiative conducted by the Reconstruction Task Force. It offers courses in construction for locals to develop skills and improve their future employment prospects.
The school will soon also offer courses in basic power generation techniques, which in time will facilitate a range of services to kick-start the economy.
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