BAGHDAD — Youngsters cry out with their hands in the air trying to get the teacher’s attention. One is selected and he marches up to the blackboard to recite the day’s lesson written there. When he finishes, the teacher praises him and he returns to his desk, a grin on his face.
School is back in session here in Sadr City, and the students couldn’t be happier.
Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers visited an elementary school in the Sadr City District of Baghdad, Nov. 3, to see its progress and distribute backpacks, school supplies and food to students in need.
Within the past six months, the schools of Sadr City have seen a complete renovation in preparation for school this fall. Walls were rebuilt and painted, windows replaced, electrical lines installed and clean water piped in. Teachers, most of whom are female, have been hired by the government of Iraq to teach full time.
Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armor Division, were invited by members of the Iraqi government to see the schools at work. Classes are held in the morning for boys and in the afternoon for girls; both sessions are packed. Every class was filled with thirty to forty 1st, 2nd or 3rd graders. Lessons focus on the fundamentals: reading and writing Arabic, math and memorizing the Koran.
This is one of fifteen schools in the area where Task Force 1-6 operates. The Soldiers, who are currently attached to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, are glad to see that their hard work in making this part of Sadr City safe has paid off.
“It felt great, seeing the smile on the kid’s faces and giving them something they needed,” said Staff Sgt. Robert Gray, a Soldier from Task Force 1-6, who is a native of Homer, La. “It made me feel really good.”
Many of the students are orphans, their parents killed by insurgents trying to gain power through intimidation. The schools themselves used to be unusable; insurgents chased the teachers out and used the schools as places of torture, for weapons storage and as a place to hide.
During the time they spent at the school, TF 1-6 Soldiers passed out backpacks, school supplies and food to students in need. The principal selected 30 students with the greatest needs to receive a brand new backpack with pencils, pens and a notebook and pencil case.
The Soldiers also passed out bags of food and water to the children to take home to their families. Sgt. Mario Braxton, a TF 1-6 Soldier, who is a native of Denver, was especially proud of his work at the school.
“Being an orphan myself, it feels good to give back and show the kindness that was shown to me,” Braxton said.
(By 2nd Lt. Gordon Bostick, 4th Infantry Division)