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Word spreads like wild fire with neighborhood children living near the Civil Military Operations Center (CMOC): “It’s time for school, it’s time for school!” The children line up at the gate in eager anticipation, smiling and giggling as SGT Marc Farrior and SPC April Phillips lead another “Neighborhood Kids Program” class with the local children. Farrior and Phillips are Soldiers from the 415th Civil Affairs Battalion located at the CMOC in Ba’qubah. Farrior graduated from and is employed by New York University in New York and Phillips is a college student in North Smithfield, R.I. Teaching a class for the local youth was a natural role for both of them. “We had kids that would be near our gate just watching us,” Phillips said as he reflected back on the origins of the program. “We knew that they wanted to meet us, but it was a matter of figuring out how to break the ice. One day I went and handed out candy to the children, and that provided a starting point.” From there a curriculum was developed. “We needed to start to bridge the language gap between ourselves and them,” said Farrior. “A good starting point was to learn common English greetings such as hello, good-bye, etc. The children caught on amazingly fast and this put us in a position to expand the program.” While the children have learned basic English language phrases, they also have had classes on proper hand washing, dental hygiene, the fire prevention technique “stop, drop and roll,” how to count to 10, water color painting and doing side walk chalk art. Farrior and Phillips also like to make the experience as fun as possible for everybody, so they had classes where the roles are reversed and the children teach them Arabic. “The children just love being able to teach their language to us,” said Phillips. The classes, held one to three times per week, are announced by word of mouth. Due to safety concerns, there are no set times. Class size ranges from eight to 25 with an average age of 8 years old. “Anytime Coalition Forces can develop a bond of friendship with the children, it will have an impact for a long duration and will be remembered for a life time,” said MAJ Leon Dyer, Officer in Charge of the CMOC. “It also has a secondary ripple effect, as the kids will tell their family and friends what a good time they had with the Americans. I’ve personally seen where this program has been a real morale booster for both SGT Farrior and SPC Phillips.” Phillips best summarized the rewards of the experience as she said, “The neatest thing is to be walking across the compound and I can hear this little voice yelling my name. When I peer through the gate and I see a child waving at me, this tells me it’s all worth it.” |
