Subscribe
MORONI, Comoros – Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11, based out of Gulfport, Miss., are currently building new facilities at the Hamramba Primary School in Moroni, Comoros.
Once completed, the school will be the second primary school available to the people of Moroni.
Working from sunup to sundown, in heat and rain seven days a week, the crew members say they keep motivated because their hard work will benefit the Comorans.
"No matter how long the hours or hard the work, it's worth in the end," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Roylander J. Williams, Jr., a project crew member. "The education will change the lives of the youths in Moroni."
The Comorans say they see the hard work and stress the Seabees endure every day and appreciate every moment of the work, which allows the deployed Americans and local people to create new relationships.
"We asked for help and the Americans were the first to respond," said Mohamed Ali Mgonri, headmaster for Hamramba Primary School. "It's great having people help. The impact of the work is [of] much value to Comoran people."
"The Comorans I have spoken to are excited to have this school," said Benjamin B. Highfield, a project crew member. "After they finish their schooling here, they want to go to the United States, or to France, to continue a higher education."
"Part of the Seabee [ethos] is we build with compassion for others,'" Highfield explained.
"It's what we do and I love doing it. We got to get out there and do the job, even if it means getting dirty and staying late," Highfield said.
While NMCB 11 focuses on pouring concrete and bringing columns and walls to life for the schoolhouse, Comoran engineers have begun working side-by-side with the Seabees in a mil-to-mil training program.
"The experience with Seabees and with the way they work is valuable," said Mgonri. "I feel help should always be like this. This will be the model of all schools on island, with a new perspective and look on reality and education."
The Hamramba Primary School is one of four schools, in three countries, that NMCB 11 is working on while assigned to the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa area of responsibility.
The service members of CJTF-HOA, headquartered in Djibouti, employ an indirect approach to counter violent extremism. Through a strategy of cooperative conflict prevention the task force helps build the internal capacities of countries at risk to prevail against extremists exploiting instability.
| Date Taken: | 03.14.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 03.14.2009 07:21 |
| Story ID: | 31098 |
| Location: | MORONI, A, KM |
| Web Views: | 602 |
| Downloads: | 583 |
This work, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11 Constructs the Future for Comoros, by PO1 Erick Holmes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT