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FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELARAM II, Nimroz province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - The Marines of 4th Civil Affairs Group, Regimental Combat Team 8, arranged a three-week course for local citizens here to be mentored in the sought after skill of masonry.
The group began the initiative for the course and called upon Navy Lt. Danny McMaster, the base engineer for Forward Operating Base Delaram II, to teach the courses with the aid of an interpreter.
“Most of the buildings you see in town are made of mud or some sort of clay bricks,” said McMaster, a Colorado Springs, Colo. native. “So we figured if they needed to learn anything in terms of building, it was how to build properly with those materials.”
The purpose of training the locals is to give them a marketable skill that can be used to provide a reliable income.
The combination of an unskilled workforce and a need for jobs with a steady income is a dangerous mix in counterinsurgency.
“A lot of them will get paid $50 [U.S. equivalent] to lay an [improvised explosive device],” said Sgt. Robert Cornish from Springfield, Va., a dispersing agent with 4th Civil Affairs Group. “We talked to them and they know now that those people are cowards. They are hiring them to do these dangerous acts and they don’t care about their lives.”
McMaster teaches the very basic fundamentals of masonry, often explaining subjects that would seem to be common knowledge. Many local citizens have never received formal education, so subjects like math or geometry, essential in building any structure, are explained in a manner that befits an individual new to the material.
“They are learning more than how to mix concrete,” McMaster said. “They are learning what a right angle is and the difference between 90 degrees and 180. Most of them have never used a level before.”
The apprentices were eager to be taught, knowing the value of learning a skill in their society. They grasped the fundamentals of mixing mortar and laying bricks after the first course. The students were nearly proficient enough to build basic block structures by the second day of the course.
“I was actually quite impressed,” said McMaster in reference to the local citizen’s improvement from the first day to the second. “They had initiative to get to work; they knew what they needed and were looking further down the road. With the skills they have gained in only two classes, I honestly believe they have learned what they need in order to build a basic structure.”
The classes will soon conclude and their hard work rewarded with the knowledge of a new trade and a set of basic tools, given to them by 4th Civil Affairs Group, to aid in their search for employment.
“Hopefully, with those things, they can go into the work force out here and use those skills either for themselves or to make money,” McMasters said.
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.12.2011 13:50 |
| Story ID: | 70268 |
| Location: | DELARAM, AF |
| Web Views: | 99 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Delaram citizens learn a marketable skill, by Cpl Clayton Vonderahe, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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