Rakkasans help mothers meet children's needs

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy | Women and children wait in line to receive free diapers, cereal and formula for their...... read more read more

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy | Women and children wait in line to receive free diapers, cereal and formula for their children at the Radwaniyah Palace Complex CMOC, May 31.  see less | View Image Page

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

05.31.2008

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

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By Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airbourne Division

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – More than 100 Iraqi families showed up to receive diapers, formula and cereal at the Radwaniyah Palace Complex Civil Military Operations Center, about seven kilometers southwest of Baghdad, May 31.

Rakkasan soldiers handed out two packages of disposable diapers, two cans of powdered formula and two cans of cereal mix for each child 3 years and younger. More than 180 children were assisted during the distribution.

The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, began an initiative to reach out to and meet the needs of Iraqi women in February. A series of meetings with professional Iraqi women and visits to women from different areas in the Mahmudiyah Qada revealed their dreams, hopes, needs and future goals.

"We've had several trips to (a local) clinic and that's ... how we came up with the idea," said Capt. Martrell Gamble, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div., women's initiatives officer in charge. "A lot of the patients were asking us for milk and diapers."

Bulk funds were used to purchase 1,000 of each item for distribution. Arabic flyers were posted in the Radwaniyah area to inform residents about the handout.

When families arrived for the distribution, some babies wore fabric fragments in lieu of diapers, while some wore nothing at all.

Formula, cereal and diapers won't resolve the issues Iraqis face in improving the overall state of Iraq, but it is another tool to assist them while they begin to stand on their feet.

"I think it's a big help for the people ... because they said it's expensive and they cannot [afford] it," said Parween Mohammed, bilingual, bicultural adviser with the Rakkasans.

Mohammed said it makes her happy to see the gratitude on the faces of the parents who received the items.

"We don't have anything," said Rabia Ahmed, a mother of five whose family depends on unreliable day labor for income. "I am so happy for this. God bless and protect you all."

Hamdia Ibrahim and her husband have eight children, aged one through 23. No one in the family currently works. She said the formula offers a brief reprieve because she breast feeds the younger children since she can't afford formula.

Gamble, from Landover, Md., said she is planning a distribution at the Mahmudiyah CMOC and Patrol Base Dragon later in the summer.

"At the end of the day we may not be able to change the entire culture but if we're able to help a handful of families here and there, that's a lasting impression," said 1st Lt. Heather Wilson, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.

From the onset, one of the primary goals of the women's initiatives programs was to better understand the women of Iraq, while generating ideas to help them achieve personal and professional goals. To that end, the Rakkasans are working to get approval for a sewing center in one of the buildings on the Ready Made Clothing Company compound in Mahmudiyah. The center would provide training and generate long-term employment for hundreds of Iraqi women.

Wilson, a resident of Lusby, Md., has been involved with the Rakkasans' women's initiatives since the inception. She is motivated by the enthusiasm the Iraqi women have for improving their condition.

"You can tell how much they want change by how much they're willing to work with us, how excited they get about these programs," Wilson said. "Their cooperation is so impressive ... I think this is more impactful and better for the country than anything else we can do."