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Building education for the future of Iraq
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
KARBALA, Iraq – The walls look like they might crumble at any second. The classrooms are crowded wall-to-wall with students, some of whom are without a desk. These are the conditions of some schools in Iraq, but there are projects helping to remedy this situation.
Two ribbon cutting ceremonies in Karbala March 19 signified the completion of a vocational school and agricultural school dormitory that were renovation projects of the Provincial Reconstruction Team here.
The vocational school renovations included replacing ceilings, replastering walls and painting walls and ceilings of four existing buildings. They also fixed sidewalks outside the structures.
The school services approximately 300 male students who study electronics, electricity, agriculture and agricultural machinery.
Renovations of the dormitory included fixing up the original dilapidated one story structure, building a second story and providing roof access.
The dormitory has 16 rooms. Of the 330 students attending the school, 22 are scheduled to move in, but the dorm can house 105 students.
Both projects cost approximately $360,000 and were completed in about six months.
The PRT is also involved in 24 projects at other schools throughout the province, building bathroom facilities. These facilities may seem to have nothing to do with education, but for Iraqi females it makes a big difference, said Lt. Col. Andamo E. Ford, Army Corps of Engineers, Golf Region South District, Karbala PRT infrastructure chief and engineer.
“In Arabic culture when females get to a certain age – the age of puberty – if they don’t have good facilities to use, they won’t even bother going to school,”, said the native of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Completing these projects is important to the PRT because of the potential outcome.
“(These projects) will help the young people of Iraq achieve an education or learn a trade,” said Maj. John Gerald, 413th Civil Affairs Battalion contracting officer, an Amarillo, Texas native. “This translates into a better future for Iraq because an educated population promotes civilization, cooperation and peace.”
These projects are also important to Ford because they represent an opportunity for Iraqi people to see Americans as a positive influence on their country.
“It’s real important for me to see that we, as Americans, can leave a positive legacy behind and hopefully change the mindset of some people so that they can see Americans are not bad people, that we are willing to work with everybody to provide a better quality of life for the people here,” he said.
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