Photo By Capt. Emerson Marcus | María Binelia Deras, a teacher at Centro Escolar Canton here, leads her class of...... read more read more
SAN VICENTE, El Salvador - María Binelia Deras walks 3 kilometers each day to teach her 4th grade class in Agua Agria, El Salvador. She has done so for the past 23 years.
Education is important for Deras. That is why she hopes one day her small school — which houses Kindergarten through 5th grade -will someday have more advanced classrooms.
She may soon get her wish as Beyond the Horizon 2011 held its opening ceremony today.
The 4-month-long, inter-branch joint effort will act as a civic assistance and U.S. military training exercise.
U.S. soldiers, sailor, Marines and airmen, along with Salvadoran soldiers, will construct and renovate schools at six sites near San Vicente, El Salvador. Medical and dental units will also have the capacity to treat up to 600 patients a day during the clinical rotations.
“This is very important for the people of San Vicente,” said Col. Orlando Montano, commander of the 5th Salvadoran Infantry Brigade whose soldiers are supporting the exercise. “About 80 percent of homes in this area were damaged by Hurricane Ida. The landslides that came after the hurricane were devastating. We picked these schools because of their location to the damage.”
Hurricane Ida hit El Salvador in 2009, leaving the Central American nation, about the size of Massachusetts, devastated by massive hurricane-induced landslides. The most affected region was near San Vicente.
The 130th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, of North Carolina, will provide command and control for rotational units during Beyond the Horizon 2011 in order to repair much of the damages from the landslides. The exercise is composed of eight 2-week rotations so service members can fulfill annual training obligations.
“It is so important for our soldiers to get hands-on experience in the field, and have the ability to work toward such an important cause at the same time,” said Col. Timothy Houser, 130th MEB and Beyond the Horizon 2011 commander.
Beyond the Horizon 2010 focused on medical and dental support for citizens affected by the landslides. In 2011, the operation will again provide medical and dental aid, but it will also focus on the construction of schools.
“We are a Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, with the typical staff functions like personnel, operations and logistics, but because this mission takes a heavy military police presence, as well as a heavy military engineer presence, our MEB is tailor-made for this operation,” Houser said.
While the operation is in its infancy, the 130th began its planning last year. Soldiers of the brigade arrived in El Salvador in February. Members of the 130th initially lived with the Salvadoran Army’s 5th Brigade Headquarters as soldiers constructed Camp Poligono, the forward operating base for the operation.
Navy seabees, headquartered in Louisiana, and other National Guard units, also helped.
“I really like the idea of the inter-branch relationship,” said Lt. j.g. Hank Wallis, the Navy seabee commander for the operation. “It’s good to get out here and work together. I also appreciate the Salvadoran’s help. They have a lot to teach us and we have a lot to teach them.”
Wallis and Houser emphasized how Salvadoran and U.S. service members can both benefit from the exercise.
“It’s the military decision-making process on steroids,” Houser said. “It gives us real world training opportunities, and that’s what is important. And we also get to help build schools for people who need it.”
For Deras, the 4th grade teacher from Agua Agria, the assistance will give her school a chance to upgrade. El Salvador’s ministry of defense can assign funding and teachers to schools around the nation and Deras said if there is another schoolhouse near her classroom, the chances of funding and teachers increases.
“Education is so important for our nation,” she said. “Without it, we are nothing.”
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2011 12:57 |
| Story ID: | 68160 |
| Location: | SAN VICENTE, SV |
| Web Views: | 132 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Operation looks to aid Salvadoran schools, train soldiers, by Capt. Emerson Marcus, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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