Michigan National Guard 46th MP Company Soldiers ‘A Gift from God’

Photo By Sgt. Alexandria Jones | A preschool class eats breakfast at a boarding school in Tilza, Latvia. The preschoolers recently started school while kindergarten through eighth grade would start in September. Soldiers of the 46th Military Police Company from Cheboygan, Mich., were at the boarding school cutting wood to supply heat and hot water for the duration of the school year. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alexandria Jones, Michigan Army National Guard/Released)  

RIGA, RIX, LATVIA

08.28.2014

Story by Sgt. Alexandria Jones 

Michigan National Guard

TILZA, Latvia - In a desolate area near the eastern border of Latvia, Michigan Army National Guard Soldiers traveled the country roads to a little town named Tilza. The rain and wind that day did not stop the team of volunteers who agreed to cut wood that would ultimately provide heat and hot water for five boarding schools in the area.

Many families are not financially able or simply cannot take care of their child so the boarding schools are intended for disenfranchised and impoverished children. The 46th Military Police Company Soldiers were there to cut wood to supply heat during the school year.

“There’s always a lack of money the further you are away from Riga, so they needed help to cut the firewood from four meter blocks and three meter blocks to 1 ½ meter blocks,” Nils Students said, the Information Resource Center Director at the U.S. Embassy in Riga, Latvia. He also works in the public affairs department and helps organize outreach missions such as this event. He explained that if the wood is too small or too large, it’s no good; therefore, it has to be cut and stacked properly for the boiler system.

Soldiers used chainsaws and axes to split the wood and cut it into the blocks as directed.

“I love helping people and it’s actually getting us to interact with the Latvians a lot more than we have been able to, so it’s great to actually see how their society works and be there to help them do it,” said Sgt. Jacob Bills, a military police officer. “My civilian job is actually a professional cutter on the power lines so I use a saw every day.”

As November draws nearer, the cold winter will be in effect meaning that temperatures can fall under minus 20 degrees. If the schools exhaust through the wood supply, the school officials would be forced to buy wood at a higher dollar.

“There is really a shortage of manpower,” Students said. With the countryside being depleted, most people have immigrated abroad; therefore, having the Soldiers willing to do this was a gratifying moment for Students and even the school’s director.

Students mentioned that the school director had said that the Soldiers coming there to chop wood was ‘a gift from God.’

“It’s a win-win for everyone,” Students said.

• Date Taken: 08.28.2014
• Date Posted: 09.05.2014 13:54
• Story ID: 141271
• Location: RIGA, RIX, LV