Photo By Sgt. Amie McMillan | A painting depicting partnership between the United States and Iraq sits outside the...... read more read more
CAMP BUCCA, UMM QASR, Iraq - Mention the words "detention facility" or "detainee" and images of single-room cells, bars and cots are sure to follow. But what if these words could be followed by images of vibrant, colorful images splashed across a canvas; wood carvings; and fresh fields of corn and tomatoes?
For detainees at Camp Bucca's theater internment facility in southern Iraq, these words may produce images of hope, and help shine a new light on service members in Iraq.
"We are hoping to give detainees a different perspective on coalition forces," said Staff Sgt. Steven Cotton of 66th Forward Support Company, 3rd Battalion, 13th Field Artillery Regiment, 75th Fires Brigade based in Fort Sill, Okla.
Cotton, a Rittman, Ohio, native, oversees the Bucca Enrichment School, which opened in October 2007 as part of the theater internment facility's reconciliation center. At any given time, it affords roughly 45 detainees there a chance to improve carpentry skills or enroll in agriculture vocational-technical programs.
"It's a really great program that offers them a creative outlet and the opportunity to learn skills that will be useful to them outside of the camp," Cotton said.
A portion of the program shows detainees how to use the soil for crop rotation.
"We teach them to use the land to turn around and produce green growth," said 66th FSC 1st Sgt. Hector Vasquez, a native of Puerto Rico.
Vasquez said that on a small scale, trainees could produce enough food to feed their families, but on a larger scale, they would be able to farm and make a profit.
In addition to cultivating crops, detainees carve lumber to form benches, stools, ping-pong tables and soccer goals. Some of the finished pieces are used at military compounds, and others are used by the detainees themselves for entertainment purposes.
Cotton and Vasquez say the detainees are eager to learn, and both are firm believers that the enrichment program will help detainees see a different side of coalition forces.
Cotton said, "If out of 45 guys, one of them decides not to place an IED because they had a good experience here, then we did something right."
| Date Taken: | 05.28.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 05.28.2009 04:11 |
| Story ID: | 34192 |
| Location: | UMM QASR, IQ |
| Web Views: | 573 |
| Downloads: | 519 |
This work, Detainees hone agricultural skills, explore artistic abilities, by Lindsey Kibler, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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