Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | Local men play cards at the market in the Graya'at neighborhood of northeast Baghdad,...... read more read more
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By Staff Sgt. Mike Pryor
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs
BAGHDAD – Up until recently, the Rabi fish market – a thoroughfare crowded with little shops and stands in northeast Baghdad – cleared out when the sun went down. But these days, things are different. Thanks to the illumination provided by rows of new, solar-powered streetlights, vendors can continue to ply their wares and shoppers can keep browsing the shops for hours after night has fallen.
The new lights were supplied by the 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment – the U.S. unit responsible for security in Rabi - as part of an ongoing effort to revitalize the market area. Since early December, 40 of the 18-foot-high lights have been installed throughout the marketplace.
The new lights will allow businesses to remain open longer and make the market safer and more enticing for customers, with the end result being a boost to the local economy, said Madison, N.C., native, Capt. Josh Richardson, who commands the 2-319th's Bravo Battery.
Richardson said people in Rabi had long expressed a desire to keep the market open at night, but the city power grid simply wasn't reliable enough. With solar technology, however, power shortages are never a problem.
The solar lights now installed in the fish market utilize fairly simple solar technology – each light has a solar panel which soaks up energy during the day. That energy is then used to power the bulbs all night. The lights turn on automatically, and require little maintenance after being installed, Richardson said.
"We give the batteries an initial charge and then let the sun do the rest," he said.
Richardson paid a visit to the fish market on a recent night to see what kind of reaction the lights were getting. It was after 8 p.m. when he and his paratroopers patrolled through the market, but the streets were still crowded. Beneath the orange glow of the street lights, young married couples pushed strollers past vegetable stands made of bound brushwood and neon-lit storefronts advertising cell phones and wireless internet. Groups of old men sat out on the sidewalks playing cards and debating life. Little children hurried forward on urgent business to pick up one or two last items for dinner.
For Richardson, the ordinariness of it all was a pleasant sight.
"I don't think you can overstate the importance of feeling like things are back to normal and you can go out and enjoy time out in public with friends and family," he said.
Several shop owners told the paratroopers the lights were having a positive effect.
"Business is better now," said Abbas Mohammed, the owner of a cosmetics shop. "People can shop longer. It is good for the community."
"Of course it is a good thing because we have a little less fear to go out," said Mustafa Moied, a college student whose family runs a convenience store in the market. "At this time (before there were any streetlights), we were all in our homes," Moied said.
Moied said that a few days earlier the community had organized a big soccer game on one of the fish market's main streets after dark. He and his friends argued about when the last time such a thing had happened.
"Twenty years ago!"
"No, 50 years ago!"
Regardless, Moied said all people in the community appreciated all the work the paratroopers had done to make the market and the neighborhood better.
After all the hard work, the 2nd Bn. 319th Abn. FA has done to improve the area throughout the past year, it was good to hear people being so appreciative, Richardson said.
"My guys have put in a lot of time, energy, effort, blood, sweat and tears into helping this community, so to have people thank us back for that, it goes a long way," he said.
| Date Taken: | 12.24.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 12.24.2007 13:35 |
| Story ID: | 14966 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 592 |
| Downloads: | 576 |
This work, Let there be light: Solar lights make Baghdad market safer for shoppers, by SSG Michael Pryor, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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