TRUCKING sacks of potatoes from the fields to the market used to be a chore for some 500 Afghan families. Not anymore.

Two new bridges have been built for their use - thanks to a five-men Singapore Armed Forces engineering team sent to Bamiyan province about three months ago to help rebuild the war-torn country.

Mission accomplished, the soldiers returned home on Monday morning.

'Everything added up to a big challenge...but we are very proud to have made contributions,' said team leader Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Ong Chia Choong.

Looking tanned and sporting a five o'clock shadow, LTC Ong, 40, said the team had to quickly adjust to the harsh environment and get down to work to meet the tight project deadline.

Apart from overseeing the construction of the reinforced concrete bridges that will also help prevent flash floods, the team also immersed themselves in a water supply project at Bamiyan University, and a culvert project.

Culverts are built under or beside roads to drain off water.

LTC Ong, father of two children aged five and two, and whose wife is a part-time university lecturer, said the team members stayed in touch with their families by phone and the Internet.

The team was attached to the New Zealand Defence Force Provincial Reconstruction Team, which is also maintaining security in the region.

Earlier this year, a five-member SAF medical team also helped set up a dental clinic at Bamiyan Hospital.

Of his experience, LTC Ong, who also went to Meulaboh in Aceh for tsunami relief work in 2005, said he admired the fortitude of the Afghans in the face of adversity.

'Some of their schools are simply tentages. The children don't even have stationery. They are always happy to have people visit them,' he said, adding that the team distributed schoolbags and stationery to the kids.