School Supplies Bring Smiles to Children

Infantry unit takes a break from patrolling to deliver much needed supplies to local school.

By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mary Rose
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP SLAYER, Iraq, Jan. 22, 2007 — An infantry unit from the Kentucky Army National Guard spent the morning of Jan. 14 not patrolling the streets of Baghdad like they usually do, but delivering supplies to local school children.

Soldiers from Company C, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, loaded up an up-armored Light Medium Tactical Vehicle with wooden crates full of backpacks, pencils, pens, rulers and notepads. Then they headed out to the Al Hamdaniyah school with an entourage of Humvees for security.

The troops arrived a little early for school, but it didn't take long for the children to start comi ng in from all directions to greet the soldiers.

The children seemed excited to see the soldiers and asked for pens by pretending they were writing on paper with their hands. While the soldiers interacted with the horde of children they tried to teach them English words, to help with communication.

For the children, they were open to taking whatever the soldiers had to give them whether it was an English word, a smile or better yet, a pen.

"It doesn't matter what you give them they'll take anything," said Spc. Jason Davenport, a medic for Company C and a native of Barbourville, Ky.

The children, with their pants tucked into their socks to keep from getting muddy are willing to take what the soldiers give because they have so little themselves. Their nine-room school house has 310 students, water damage, no electricity, no running w ater, no heat and many of its windows broken out, said Maj. Chris Cline, a civil affairs officer with the unit.

Along with all the damage, there is no money being given to the school to fix the problems.

"The teachers haven't been paid in three months," said Cline a native of Hodgenville, Ky. Despite that, he said the teachers still come in to teach the children who attend the school.
The supplies from U.S. soldiers are the only thing the school has received in months, according to a teacher at the school.

While at the school, troops unloaded the vehicle and played with the children, until it was time for classes to begin. The children filed into the cold classrooms, after collecting their new supplies and waited for the teachers to join them for their studies.

One of the teachers, who spoke through an interpreter , said there is no school being held in many of the more populated areas around Baghdad, due to security issues.

"We need security," the teacher said. "With security, we can make better education."

Security and lack of financial assistance wasn't the only problem the school had; they had children with medical needs.

Davenport assisted two girls who had ailments, but because of the limited resources on hand, he referred them to the Civil Military Operations Center's free medical clinic for local Iraqis.

"It is important for them to know that we are here to help them," said Davenport.

Even though the school is barely operational, 1st Lt. Robert Andersen, a civil affairs officer with the regiment and native of Elizabethtown, Ky, said he was impressed with the number of students still attending.

"For a war going on and so many children to still be in school, it shows that parents do care about the future of their children, which is a good thing," said Andersen.

"We could be here a hundred years and not make a dent if they don't want to help themselves," Davenport noted. He said the teachers' dedication to the children at the Al Hamdaniyah School is an example of what Iraq needs to get back on its feet.

FRIENDS — U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Mike Bradbury draws a smiley face on an Iraqi boy's hand during a visit to distribute school supplies at a boy's school in Mosul, Iraq, Jan. 17, 2006. Defense Dept. photo by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Katherine Tripp

Soldiers build lasting relationships with Iraqi school-aged kids

Friday, 19 January 2007
By Marine Cpl. Jessica Kent
Multi-National Corps - Iraq PAO

BAGHDAD — Service members conducting patrols in Baghdad may catch a glimpse of what makes life so great back at home.

In a country where electricity is scarce and mud huts are common homes, many Iraqi families struggle to make a living. The trash-lined streets, often hiding explosives, are dangerous for children at play.

One aspect of a child’s life that usually remains a steady influence is going to school. When Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Division National Police Transition Team visited a local elementary school, they found the rooms packed to capacity with small students. The rooms were so packed that desks were moved outside to make an additional classroom.

Although the school was only for girls, several small boys were spotted among the rows. Some families were granted permission to enroll males in the school because sectarian violence made other schools too dangerous.

While the boys’ parents believe the elementary school to be safer, each child there has been touched by violence. Many lost parents and other family members who were murdered. Others lost a sibling or friend who left school one day and never returned.

“Some were kidnapped and never came back,” a school administrator said. “We support (the children) and give special attention to the orphans who miss their mothers or fathers.”

Most of the students are accustomed to hearing gunfire on the streets, seeing the destruction left by a mortar round, watching Soldiers at traffic checkpoints and chasing military convoys.

“We travel down parts of Baghdad and then go to our sector and see the downtrodden areas,” said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Andrus, communications NCOIC, 3rd Bn., 7th Bde., 2nd Div. NPTT. “It definitely makes me appreciate what I have as an American.”

Andrus said it’s hard to see Iraqi kids without the opportunities American children often have. He added that the worst part is that Iraqi children do not know to expect any better.

“It saddens my heart sometimes to see the conditions they live in, when it’s cold outside and kids are wearing flip-flops without jackets,” he said. “So many of these kids don’t even have a ball to play with, something we think is simple.”

Because the children have very little, transition team members provided whatever help they could. They packed up clothing donated from the United States and delivered it to the school. Team members also helped find desks and new doors for the school.

“The new units are welcome here,” the school administrator said. “I welcome them because they help me.”

During his last visit to drop off children’s clothing, Lt. Col. Anthony Cornett, team chief, 3rd Bn., 7th Bde., 2nd Div. NPTT, addressed a classroom of bright-eyed students. A young girl asked about terrorism in her country, and how he would help the Iraqi people.

“I work everyday to ensure that you’re protected; so does the National Police,” he replied. “They’re my friends. But I’m a human being just like you. Here (in the classroom) is where you can make a difference for Iraq.”

Because children are the future of their country, Andrus said school students make up a generation that can bring positive changes for Iraq. Transition team members will spend the remainder of their tour guiding National Policemen as they struggle to make those changes.

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Miguel Cira, a combat engineer assigned to Golf Co, Battalion Landing Team, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, shares a snack with a local child during a cordon and search operation looking for weapons and explosives in Haditha, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. T.G. Kessler

Caring -- A Word Both Countries Understand

Dr. Riyad Sabri, an Iraqi doctor, carefully examines a local Iraqi boy from Al Audey Village inside the Rawashid district of the Diyala province, during a Cooperative Medical Engagement lead by the Iraqi Army and coalition forces, Dec. 23. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jamie Favreau, 3-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division)


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SR# 010807-01
Jan. 8, 2007


By Sgt. 1st Class Jamie Favreau
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

BALAD, Iraq -- Iraqi citizens and coalition forces may speak different languages but they care for people all the same.

Dr. Riyad Sabri, an Iraqi doctor, and Maj. Paul Fleenor, along with other medics from 3-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, set up a medical care operation, known as a Cooperative Medical Engagement, for the people of the Al Audey Village inside the Rawashid district of the Diyala province, Dec. 23.

The mission was for Iraqi Army Soldiers along with coalition forces to screen the villagers by checking their vital signs and asking for health problems for Sabri to take a look at.

Sabri, the primary care giver for the operation, was assisted with medications and supplies provided by Soldiers from 3-8 CAB. It was because of the joint effort that they were able to screen and treat over 125 local villagers.

At first the local population came in slowly but after a few moments word had gotten out that the Iraq Army and coalition forces were here to help, said Staff Sgt. Ruben Garcia, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3-8 CAB. People started coming in more and more, and soon it was more than the medics had anticipated, he said.
“It was hard to keep count of everyone we treated,” added Garcia. “So we just kept going until supplies went out.”

To Garcia, it was a chance to show the Iraqi people that he and his fellow Soldiers care about the local’s health and they could trust the Soldiers, he said.

The majority of the patients Sabri came across only had minor injuries or sickness, except for one – a small boy with an infected cut on his hand.

The boy, who had obtained the cut weeks ago, had not received any medical treatment for his wound. The cut was so infected that the infection was running up to his wrist. If the boy went untreated for as little as one more day, the chances of him losing his finger would have been greatly increased.

The medics worked quickly to help the young boy and treat his wound.

If he keeps the wound clean and keeps taking his antibiotics, he will be fine, said Garcia.

Though Fleenor, head surgeon for 3-8 CAB, and his medics had their hands full with screening patients, they knew this operation was more about supporting the Iraqi doctor and giving the people in the village confidence in the ability of their local doctor to take care of them.

“It’s good to start working with the local doctors,” said Fleenor. “The people of Al Audey were very thankful.”


Maj. Paul Fleenor, head surgeon for 3-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, checks the vision of a small Iraqi boy during the IA’s and 3-8’s Cooperative Medical Engagement in the Al Audey Village inside the Rawashid district of the Diyala province, Dec. 23. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jamie Favreau, 3-8 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division)

Colonel Bob McCarthy, 41 from East Bridgewater, Mass. and a Police Transition Team leader with Regimental Combat Team 5, 1st Marine Division, kneels down to speak some words of encouragement to a recovering Riyam Shihan. Riyam’s cousin was trying to close a heavy, metal door, at a home in Habbaniyah when it became unhinged and fell on Riyam, crushing her skull. When she arrived at TQ Surgical, her condition deteriorated quickly. Fearing the worst, doctors and corpsmen “launched into action,” said Lt. Cmdr. Pamela C. Harvey, 39 from Muscatine, Iowa and a doctor with TQ Surgical, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward). In the early hours of October 14th, an unconscious Riyam Shihan was flown to a higher level hospital. TQ Surgical’s staff doubted she would survive the required surgery, much less walk and talk again. So when Riyam walked back into the hospital a month later and asked for strawberry bubble gum, surgeons and corpsmen were amazed. “I couldn’t believe it,” said Cmdr. Tracy R. Bilski, a trauma surgeon for TQ Surgical. Upon seeing the girl’s outcome, Bilski, 38 from Bellmawr, N.J. burst into tears of shock and joy. “(The sheik) is in charge of six thousand people, and all of them know this story, and soon all of their friends will know this story,” said Hameed. Riyam’s grandfather has also informed many other sheiks, who will probably inform their people, he added. “Saving this girl’s life,” said Hameed, “was like saving all of Iraq.”

Photo by: Lance Cpl. Geoffrey P. Ingersoll
Photo ID: 20071565929
Submitting Unit: 1st Marine Logistics Group
Photo Date:11/23/2006

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Cool shades
Photo by Lance Cpl. Ryan Busse
January 03, 2007

An Iraqi child tries on Spc. Taryn Emery's sunglasses during a humanitarian mission in Qaryat Al Majarrah. Emery is with 2nd Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment.

CANDY TREAT — U.S. Army Spc. Gregory Guyton, of Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, hands out candy to local children during a combined cordon and search mission in Ghazaliya, Iraq, Dec. 21, 2006. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Martin K Newton