Awarded with smiles: 1-36 Soldiers help renovate Iraqi schools

Photo By Dustin Gautney | Tal Qaif district mayor, Basim Bello, and Lt. Col. Chris Connolly, commander 1-36 IN., attend the ceremony for the reopening of the 1st Primary School of Tal Qaif, to celebrate the completion of the 30-day renovation project of the school.  

TAL QAIF, IRAQ

03.23.2010

Story by Spc. Dustin Gautney 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORWARD OPERATING BASE MAREZ, Iraq — Cheers and laughter filled the air as students welcomed Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, as they entered their school, the same school that the Soldiers helped renovate over the past month. The cheers and celebration by the students were part of a ribbon-cutting and reopening ceremony held March 23, for nearly 100-year-old school.

The 30-day project was part of a 1-36th Inf. Civil Affairs team mission to improve schools within the town of Tal Qaif, in northern Iraq.

"With the age of the school much of the exterior had to be re-plastered and painted to make the structure safer for the students," said U.S. Navy Lt. Joseph Kamara, 422nd Civil Affairs Company, attached to 1-36th Inf.

The project included replacing all of the structures' windows, new desks and chairs, re-tiling the bathrooms, fans, electricity, and replacing the schools sewage system, said Lt. Kamara.

"When we first arrived to the school you could smell the sewage coming from the bathrooms...that quickly became our first priority to make the school safe for children," Lt. Kamara said.

Because the local district government did not have the financial means to improve civil projects such as roads and schools it was the first concern of Tal Qaif district mayor, Basim Bello when asked by the 1-36th Inf. CA team on how improvements can be made within his district.

"The school is very old, originally built in 1918, and had many things that needed to be improved in the structure for the students," said Bello. "However we are all grateful for the successful cooperation with U.S. Soldiers that were able to make the improvements for not only the school but the whole community of Tal Qaif."

For the district of Tal Qaif , which contains six schools, the renovation of the 1st Primary School of Tal Qaif, represented the beginning of a long-term civil affairs project for the district, said Lt. Kamara.

"With the cooperation we have been able to forge with not only the mayor of Tal Qaif but the whole community of the district will benefit from what was accomplished today," said Lt. Kamara.

• Date Taken: 03.23.2010
• Date Posted: 03.28.2010 15:36
• Story ID: 47352
• Location: TAL QAIF, IQ