Marines, sailors host school for Afghans in Nawa

NAWA, AFGHANISTAN

01.18.2010

Story by Sgt. Brian Tuthill 

I Marine Expeditionary Force

NAWA, Helmand province, Afghanistan — Marines of Headquarters and Service Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, hosted the first day of class for 20 Afghan students at the Forward Operating Base Geronimo school Jan 18.

The two-hour class was held in a tent inside the courtyard area of the Afghan national army compound adjacent to the Marine base. Marines advertised the classes to the local community and invited students and parents alike to come to the school.

Of the 20 who attended, only four were young children, the others were a mix of teenagers, middle-aged men and one man in his fifties. Despite the differences in age, one thing brought them all together — the opportunity for education.

"You all are the future of a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan," said Chief Petty Officer Reynaldo S. Datu, the school's principal, in his opening remarks to students. "The future belongs to you ... your education is the key and will open doors of opportunity in your life."

Datu, a chief hospital corpsman, whose regular duty is the assistant battalion medical chief for 1/3, also reviewed the school's curriculum and expectations before students began their first assignment of learning to write their own names in Pashtu. With the help of a linguist, each student saw their name written on their papers so they could learn to copy it. As they improved, Datu called students to the whiteboard at the front of the room to show to the class that they had learned to write their names.

"Some of these older men have never seen or written their names before, so this is very important for things like land or legal disputes," said Warrant Officer Troy D. Anstine, executive officer, Headquarters and Service Company, who assisted teaching the class.

After their writing exercise, the students moved on to their art assignment — drawing a turkey by tracing their hands and coloring it with crayons.

Although Datu had planned to give the class breaks throughout the teaching period, his students were so focused on their writing and drawing they worked right through the scheduled break times skipping their outdoor activity period. He ended the first day of school by announcing the class homework assignment, which was to practice writing their names 20 times.

Many of the students left the school with smiles on their faces and drawings in hand, talking about what they had learned.

"I enjoyed coming to school today," said Mohammed Omar, 55, who was the oldest student in the room, and wrote his name for the first time that day. "I am a day laborer here but I want to learn at school. I will come every day."

Datu said the class went well and had a better turnout than he had anticipated.

"We had 20 students and we didn't expect to have that many on the first day," said Datu, 45, who was born in the Philippines and is trying to learn some Pashto to better interact with the class. "We hope they all left excited about what they learned here today and will go back to their communities and tell about this place.

"I was surprised to see the adults here today," said Datu. "I thought they might be embarrassed to come since they didn't know how to read or write, but the older ones even enjoyed the coloring and drawing and seemed very happy with being in the class."

Datu said he volunteered to help with the school project and ended up taking on the role of the principal. He deployed two years ago to Afghanistan's Kunar province and said he worked with children there as well.

"I enjoy doing this and I enjoy watching their faces light up when they do something on their own creatively," said Datu. "It really means a lot. This is like opening a door of opportunities in their world that we normally take for granted. Now, I'm able to pass it on to them."

Marines at FOB Geronimo decided to open the school after identifying a need and desire for education from the local community. Although Nawa operates a school, it is located at the heart of the district center and would be too far for students living near the base to walk.

"We're working with the Nawa District governor to hopefully get a teacher to come out here and to also build an actual school for this area," said Anstine, 39, from Cedar Ridge, Colo. "Until then, we'll hold class on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and we plan to teach reading and writing in Pashto, counting in Pashto, hygiene and sanitation, geography and art. Everyone really seemed to enjoy the art projects so we'll have to be more creative with those in the future."

Anstine said he plans to ask the ANA soldiers here to donate a flag to display in the classroom tent and begin each class by singing their country's national anthem.

"This school is not about getting them to think like Americans, this is about teaching them skills they can use for life," said Anstine. "We just provide the supplies and the linguists to teach them, but other than that it's about them and their culture."

• Date Taken: 01.18.2010
• Date Posted: 02.03.2010 02:56
• Story ID: 44835
• Location: NAWA, AF