The changing of the guard unofficially began to pick up steam in Kabul Sunday.

About 700 soldiers of the Royal 22nd Regiment arrived at Camp Julien to relieve about 650 members of the Royal Canadian Regiment.

The turnover actually started last month, but will hit full stride this week.

It includes every rank from private up to general, as Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier will take command of the International Security Assistance Force on Monday.

It took two days of travel for the newcomers to get to Kabul. They were taken from the airport to Camp Julien in armoured personnel carriers.

Once they arrived at their new home, they were briefed on such things as where to find cover in the event of a rocket, mortar or artillery attack.

It's only been two weeks since a Canadian and British soldier died in separate suicide attacks.

Two other Canadian soldiers died in October when their jeep hit an anti-tank mine.

"We're worried and we certainly aren't indifferent to what happened to our people," Cpl. Cavalier Paradis told The Canadian Press as he began his orientation tour.

"I was anxious to get on the ground because the training was long. We want to put what we learned into practice."

Cpl. Christian Dugas told The Canadian Press he is anxious to see Kabul and meet Afghans after rolling into the base in an armoured personnel carrier. He said he had a difficult task reassuring his family before he left Canada.

"All you can say to them is to be confident we are going to be careful and we're going to stay careful all along," said Dugas.

"Between us, between the military, we are trying to keep the morale. We're not scared, but we're concerned."

Senior officers say the cost of three Canadian lives and some injuries was worth it.

Not all troops felt the same way, but others left noticing that people in Kabul are rebuilding their homes, returning to the streets and otherwise resuming normal lives.

Canadian troops have made a tangible contribution to the lives of Afghans.

In Kal E Moslem, they built a school, leading to prayers of thanks from the residents of the town near Kabul.
Over a quarter-century of wars had made Afghans wary of foreign armies.

But the $160,000 spent on the school, which was a former Russian military base, bought a lot of goodwill.

"It seems not all foreigners are coming to make trouble for us," said a local elder.

One boy said the new school will save him a two-hour walk.

The school is being dedicated to the memory of Sgt. Robert Allan Short, who along with Cpl. Robbie Beerenfenger, was killed in October when their jeep hit a mine not far from where the school is located.

"It's not far from here at all, and I think it's important the children remember who he was, specifically this (school) dedicated to him, not so far from where his life ended," said Sgt.-Major Wayne Bartlett.

Winter will end in just over a month, and that's when the school will become home to 2,000 students -- and a living tribute to a Canadian soldier who died in Afghanistan.

CTV's Matt McClure contributed to this report.