Ashes litter the ground after the Taliban burned humanitarian aid. Villagers say that whenever the military or the government distributes aid, including blankets, children's notebooks or winter clothes, the Taliban enter the village, collect the aid and set it on fire. The Taliban's strength in many parts of eastern and southern Afghanistan has made fuller, long-term health care impossible for now.

Men wait with their daughters to see the American medics. "The Taliban has made it abundantly clear that no outside doctors, no outside medical help, can work in this district," an American captain said.

During recent patrols, the medics have been asked by villagers to treat not only infected cuts and persistent colds, but also retardation, blindness, autism, deafness and epilepsy. Much of what the medics see is beyond their reach. But sometimes they are able to help, quickly cleaning wounds or, as with this child, dispensing simple medicines.

A blind Afghan boy, Hayatullah, 10, was examined by an American Army medic during a patrol in the Taliban stronghold of Karawaddin. Health problems are acute in areas like this village, aggravated by the continuing insurgency and the harsh edicts of the Taliban.

An elderly man brought children to see the medics in Zarinkhel. Until the villages help stand against the Taliban, an American captain says, it will be hard to build roads or clinics, or to provide electricity. "I am confident we can make a difference down here," he says. "But it is going to take time."