While some soldiers are fighting on the front lines, many are also rebuilding the country.

KXAN Austin News’ Jenny Hoff and photojournalist Frank Martinez joined soldiers on a recon mission to a village in the mountains of Afghanistan, through roads often threatened by bombs.

Here’s the transcript of the story that appeared on KXAN Austin News tonight at 6 p.m. You can see the video there.

(The following transcript was written by Hoff).

We took you to the Kabul military training center and showed how they are practicing shooting live cannons into the mountains. We go to those mountains where one small village is trying to get by with no amenities to speak of.

In Afghanistan, even a humanitarian mission must be treated like combat with the threat of bombs on every major road.

But, after loading up in the Humvees preparing ourselves for the possibility of an attack, the adrenaline of danger is soon replaced by a very sobering sight.

“Just beautiful,” said Lt. Col. Ed McInnis. “They remind you of children back home. They’re just dirty, they’re just poor.”

When the military does humanitarian aid missions, they come to villages. They bring food, clothing and shoes to children who have almost none of those things.

One particular village is in the mountain behind the Afghan military’s shooting range.

The first order of business is to speak with the village elders.

“We’ve been having a problem keeping the children off the ranges, which is very dangerous,” McInnis said.

McInnis said the children will walk right in the line of fire to gather shells in hopes the metal will bring in some money.

“They have the same wants and needs as any children,” McInnis said. “They want to be loved. They need to be educated. They just need the basics: food, clothes and shelter.”

There, shelter is four walls, if that. When the snow comes, families in all those villages will find old tires to burn, and the pollution that already makes Kabul unbearable will turn the air almost unbreathable.

“To see children denied because of money, it’s just heartbreaking,” McInnis said.

Heartbreaking for some, because the United States has spent six years in the country and more than $1 billion in aid.

“Nothing ever moves fast as you’d like, because it all ties back to the needless human suffering that goes on every day,” said Col. Peter Foreman.

One aspect of the human suffering in Kabul is chronic diarrhea, because the children have no clean water.

“They have a real need for a well. So, we’re going to try to build them a well,” McInnis said. “They need a school. The children have no place to go to school.”

For the soldiers who have been called from their homes, their families and their normal day jobs in the United States to spend the next year in Afghanistan, this is what keeps them going.

“To me, besides training the Afghan army, that’s our second biggest mission, is helping these guys out,” McInnis said.

McInnis said in an e-mail that they got approval to build the well and will be doing so in the next couple of weeks