Name Tetsu Nakamura | ||
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Tetsu Nakamura (中村 哲, Nakamura Tetsu, born September 15, 1946 in Fukuoka City) is a Japanese medical doctor. He was awarded the 2003 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding. He has devoted his work among refugees in the Afghanistan/Pakistan borderlands.
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Work in Afghanistan
Beginning in 1991, Nakamura opened 3 clinics to provide medical service in the mountainous eastern region of the country.
Starting from 2000, a drought hit the region. A consequence of this drought was the multiplications of diseases due to malnutrition and lack of water. Nakamura stated about this situation: "One irrigation canal will do more good than 100 doctors!". Starting from 2003, Nakamura started building an irrigation canal in Khiwa district of Nangarhar Province, the Marwarid Canal. The canal gets water from Kuner River, and has a length of 25.5 km.
As of 2016, Nakamura has build or restored 8 additional canals, irrigating 16.000 hectares and supporting the livelihood of 600.000 people in the Gamberi Desert region.
Nakamura declared, "Weapons and tanks don't solve problems. The revival of farming is the cornerstone of Afghanistan's recovery".