December 4th marks the third anniversary of the death of Dr. Tetsu Nakamura, a Japanese medical doctor and aid worker who devoted many years to helping Afghans, particulary by orchestrating massive irrigation projects in the east, who was shot dead along with five other Afghan colleagues in an attack in Nangarhar. 

Nakamura implemented many projects in the eastern provinces of Afghanistan. 

The residents of Nangarhar called for Nakamura’s unfinished projects to be resumed.

“He left his country and came to a land like Afghanistan where there were security threats, economic challenges and poverty,” said Ataullah, a resident of Nangarhar. 

The Japan embassy in Kabul said the projects of Nakamura will be continuing in Afghanistan. 

“Even though he (Nakamura) unfortunately passed away, his projects are being continued by his Afghanistan and Japan colleagues. Japan will continue its support for the Afghanistan people. We wish to bring his methods to other parts of Afghanistan. His soul never dies,” the embassy said on Twitter. 

Nakamura came to Afghanistan in the 1980s to treat leprosy. But he changed many more lives with the canal-building techniques he brought from Japan.

He established canals from the Kunar River and also dug over 1,500 wells that now provide clean water to over 650,000 people in Nangarhar.

"When he (Nakamura) was in the area, he treated his colleagues in a very good manner,” said a former colleague of Nakamura. 

A memorial for Nakamura has been constructed in Nangarhar province's capital city Jalalabad. 

“We hope they come and complete these projects as soon as possible. We pledge our cooperation for security and every other aspect,” said Qureshi Badlon, a spokesman for the department of Information and Culture in Nangarhar.