IQALUIT - With the threat of a suicide bomber around any corner in Kandahar City or a land mine lying just below the surface of one of Afghanistan's dusty roads, RCMP Const. Henry Coman never leaves the walls of his Canadian camp without protective gear.

Henry Coman, left, is seen here in Afghanistan with fellow RCMP officer Charles Riddick of Nova Scotia. Coman started his peacekeeping tour in late March and expects to be overseas for a full year. - photo courtesy of Henry Coman

"The danger is very real," he wrote in an e-mail interview with Nunavut News/North last week.

Coman, who was born in Pangnirtung but has lived in Iqaluit for much of his life, is entering his third month of a one-year peacekeeping mission in the politically unstable country, where the oppressive Taliban regime has been unseated but its militant supporters sometimes blend in among civilians.

His role abroad, one he volunteered for, is to help train and advise the fledgling Afghan National Police and the Kandahar City Fire Department, as police officers there double as firefighters.

He and his RCMP colleagues, with assistance from Canadian military police, stage vehicle checkpoints within the safe confines of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team camp. They show the Afghan cops how to search a vehicle for contraband and teach them handcuffing techniques and other basic policing skills. Coman, 36, also counsels Afghan police commanders, visiting them at substations and checkpoints throughout the city.

Most Afghans seem appreciative of the RCMP's efforts, according to Coman.

"We are over here to win the hearts and minds of the Afghans and we do that by helping as much as we can with the support of the local elders," he stated. "Getting local input is crucial in everything that we do because without their input, the people cannot take ownership of whatever we are trying to put in place."

A graduate of the Akitsiraq law school, a pilot and a scuba diver, Coman said most Afghan people live humble lives in mud or brick homes with no electricity or unreliable service.

Leaving Iqaluit to lend a hand in a country in turmoil came at great personal sacrifice. His wife, Alison, and their children, Cassandra, 11, and Victoria, 8, remain at home in Iqaluit.

The periodic reports of Canadian soldiers dying in Afghanistan catch Alison's attention, but she said she has to control her fears and remain strong for their children. She's steadfastly supportive of Henry's desire to contribute in an embattled part of the world and she's trying to impart those humanitarian values to Cassandra and Victoria, she said.

"Doing a good deed for somebody whether it's here in Nunavut or abroad, I think that that's what's more important for them to learn," she said. "You learn by example, right? And Henry's showing them."

Alison, who added that she has a strong network of relatives and friends upon whom she can rely, said she and Henry remain in touch by regular phone and e-mail contact. In addition, Henry, a member of the RCMP since 1993, will be granted three trips to meet with family over the course of his year in Afghanistan, the first of which is scheduled for July.

There have been some lighter moments for the Canadian soldiers and RCMP serving in Afghanistan. Some ex-NHL stars, including Dave "Tiger" Williams, Bob Probert, Mark Napier and Rejean Houle visited Kandahar to play an exhibition hockey game. Henry was chosen to play on his camp team and had his picture taken with the Stanley Cup, which the hockey pros brought with them.

Hockey in an arid place where temperatures soar to 50 C is unusual. Drinking plenty of water is crucial, Henry noted, especially during periods of exertion.

"I've experienced one bout of mild dehydration and it was not pleasant," he wrote.