Courtesy Photo | Capt. Phillip Noack, a civil affairs team leader with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine...... read more read more
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By Cpl. Ned Johnson
FORWARD OPERATING BASE MUSA QAL’EH, Afghanistan – Afghanistan’s improved security was earned by the men and women who put their lives on the line daily, but Afghans and Marines know that education is the key to Afghanistan’s future success.
Musa Qal’eh contains 24 schools, but only four of them are open for classes, according to Ghulam Ali, the Musa Qal’eh District minister of education. He ishoping to change that.
“The long-term goal is to have established schools from primary to secondary education that are funded and run by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan,” said Capt. Phillip Noack, a civil affairs team leader with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2. “We would like those schools to feed into higher education or trade schools.”
Marines are not the only ones who want to build schools.
“The people here really want education,” Noack said. “They are willing to give their time, their money, and their land so their sons and even daughters can go to school.”
Noack said the process will not happen overnight, but a few of the schools are already being planned. One of the up-coming schools is in a local village where the elders have already picked a location and donated it to the ministry of education.
Once a village wants a school, the Marines can help in several ways.
“They know what education can do for them, but the Taliban makes it tough on them,” said Noack, a 29-year-old native of Georgetown, Texas. “That is where we can help them by providing security. We can also provide buildings, help train teachers and complete the long-term projects,” Noack said.
The desire for education trickles down to the youngest level: the children.
“We have talked to many of the kids here and asked them what they want to be when they grow up,” said Noack, a graduate of Texas A&M University. “They say they want to be doctors, lawyers and engineers and they know that requires education.”
The facts prove these children are not kidding because the largest school in Musa Qal’eh has 700 students. Still, that is not enough.
“As they say, ‘Build it and they will come,’” Noack said.
For the Marines, there is more behind education in Afghanistan.
“It has been shown that the Taliban preys on the uneducated,” Noack said. “What the teachers are trying to do here is show the kids there are better optins.”
What matters most to Marines in Afghanistan is leaving the country in better shape than it was when they arrived.
"To have long-term stability you absolutely have to have education,” Noack said. “It is definitely the future: one book at a time, one day at a time.”
| Date Taken: | 06.23.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 06.23.2010 06:06 |
| Story ID: | 51815 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE MUSA QAL’EH, AF |
| Web Views: | 484 |
| Downloads: | 415 |
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