Posted on 11/14/2007 1:20:48 PM PST by SandRat
Sheik Juwad al-Shimmari, Al Waheda city council chairman, hands out school supply packets to students of the newly refurbished Al Taybeh Elementary School, Nov. 12 in Al Waheda. Photo by Sgt. Natalie Rostek, 3rd Infantry Division.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Children in Al Waheda received more than pencils and paper as they arrived to class Nov. 12; they were given a completely refurbished school.
“The community continued to educate the children, despite not having a place to go,” Sheik Juwad Al Shimmari, the Waheda city council chairman, said through a translator. “But now we have this beautiful school and we are very grateful to Coalition forces and the city council for giving us the resources to rebuild.”
Leaders of Company C and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, and the 489th Civil Affairs (CA) Battalion, a reserve unit from Knoxville, Tenn., currently attached to the 1-15th Inf. Regt. attended the school opening in Al Waheda.
Al Shimmari oversaw the event, inviting local, Al Karrar National Police Brigade, and 1-15th Inf. Regt. leaders and Soldiers to walk through the newly refurbished school.
According to Maj. Greg Lester, from Knoxville, Tenn., team chief for team 911, 489th CA, the city council made the decision to refurbish the school. The 1-15th Inf. Regt. was responsible for funding the project and coordinating with local contractors for bids. The 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, approved the project.
Local contractors took approximately (90) days to renovate the structure of the school, paint the walls, fix the plumbing and electricity, and install new doors and windows.
“It was not very difficult,” Marmas said. “The school was broken but we did our best to do what we did. I am very proud.”
Lester is certain the project will prove beneficial for everyone in the community, including the 1-15th Inf. Regt. Soldiers who provide security in the area.
“Refurbishing the school provides jobs for local contractors and laborers,” he said. “It builds rapport between Coalition forces and the local community and city council. It gives the community pride to have such a nice school in Al Waheda.”
Besma Mihsin, the wife of a security officer in the community, works as a school custodian and remembers when it was a derelict building.
“I am very impressed with the progress the school has made. I remember what it used to look like,” she said through a translator. “Now I can see the happiness on the faces of the kids and their families.”
According to Capt. Matthew Givens, Columbus, Ga. native and civilian project manager, 1-15th Inf. Regt., the school still needs furniture, four more classrooms, and a teachers’ lounge.
Although minor additions are still needed, both Iraqi locals and leaders from 1-15th Inf. Regt. are pleased with the outcome of the project.
“This new school gives them a chance to build the next generation,” said Spc. Daniel Bell, from Sevierville, Tenn., civil affairs specialist with the 489th CA. “Every moment after this school opens will provide opportunities to turn things around.”
After the walk-through, Shimmari, Givens, and Lt. Col. Jabbar from the Al Karrar National Police, handed out school supplies to the students. The packets, containing coloring books, crayons, paper, pencils and other school supplies, were donated to the project from friends and families in Knoxville, Tenn.
The 1-15th Inf. Regt. is assigned to the 3rd HBCT, 3rd Inf. Div. from Fort Benning, Ga. and has been deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March.
FR WAR NEWS! How soon until the NEA sends teachers there?
Never I hope.
LOL, Not teachers, Superintendants and Union reps! Great news, great work. You know life is becoming normal when people are sending their kids to school. Notice the girls in the picture. Iraq is going to surpass everyone’s expectations. They are going to make Saudi Arabia look like East Berlin in comparison.
That's what Saudi Arabia is afraid of. That's what Syria and Iran and all the rest are afraid of. For that matter, that's what a goodly number of the American left are afraid of.
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