Photo By Staff Sgt. Jeff Daniel | Warrant Officer Brandon Pawloski, an operations officer with the 226th Engineer...... read more read more
SITIO DEL NIÑO, El Salvador – Soldiers from the 226th Engineer Company out of Augusta, Kan. and Salvadoran army engineers from Battelion Enginero Centra out of Comando de Ingenieros de la Fuerza Armada, wrestle with the concrete pump house as the weight bears down on them under the Salvadoran sun.
The joint effort to place concrete into sidewalk forms on May 27, signals the schoolhouse in Sitio Del Niño is almost ready to be handed over to the local school children who currently have only tin roofs and dirt floors.
This and several other projects throughout El Salvador are part of Beyond the Horizon 2015. BTH15 is a joint humanitarian and civic engineering exercise sponsored by U.S. Southern Command and the government of El Salvador to show support for the country of El Salvador.
To help fulfill the mission in El Salvador, the Kansas National Guard was tasked with several two-week rotations at the schoolhouse site here. Earlier rotations had completed several walls of the schoolhouse using concrete blocks and work on the roof of the twin-building schoolhouse. The current group of the guard has been tasked to complete the last concrete placement to create sidewalks and a foundation for a future kitchen area. They will also place primer and paint on the walls.
Many of the guardsmen have never traveled out of the country prior to this two week mission.
“Google is your friend when it comes to getting everyone ready for the culture,” said Sgt. 1st Class William Kerby, noncommissioned officer in charge with the 226th. “But there is nothing like the real thing and being on CIFA and being around the El Salvadoran army, especially the engineers and with having to compliment the El Salvadoran engineers here, it has been a big eye opener for several of them.”
Spc. Dana Sisler, a masonry and carpentry specialist with the 226th Engineer Company and hailing from Hutchison, Kan., said that this was her first time out of the country and her experience is better than expected. “I thought it would be a little bit worse. I thought the humidity would be worse.” she said.
Working alongside the Salvadoran engineers proved to be a successful challenge.
“The first few days we didn’t have interpreters, so we had to show them what to do and couldn’t really put them to good use. Today we had interpreters so they were helping us pour concrete and they did a great job,” said 1st Lt. Michael Bryant, the officer in charge for the project and platoon leader with the 226th Engineer Company.
Kerby said that communicating with the Salvadoran engineers has been decent. “We’ve been able to get by with a lot of hand gestures.”
Sisler said, “I only know how to read a little Spanish and I had to use a lot of hand gestures to map out what needs to be done,” referring to the Salvadoran's willingness to help her perform her job site duties.
The Kansas guard will take home lessons and memories as they complete the mission. BTH15 gave them the opportunity to work with engineers from abroad, eat different types of food and most importantly meet their customers.
“My soldiers can actually see who they are building for, their customers,” said Kerby, referring to the opportunity to have the school children visit the new buildings during their rotation.
“This experience has show me how we in the U.S. are spoiled compared to other countries,” said Sisler. “I feel like they don't have as much as we do.” She also added that El Salvador is a pretty country.
“Doing this project here, we are surrounded by poverty and we can tell we are making a difference,” said Bryant. “On the ground level, we are here to support this community. At a much higher level we are here to build relationships with the United States and El Salvador and to support this bond between two countries that hopefully will bear a lot of fruit down the road.”
Sisler summed up her experience so far in one word, “Amazing.”
| Date Taken: | 05.27.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.31.2015 15:08 |
| Story ID: | 165015 |
| Location: | SITIO DEL NIÑO, SV |
| Web Views: | 227 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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