Photo By Sgt. Charles Siler | Col. John Crocker, right, Air Component Coordination Element director and the 449th...... read more read more
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By Army Sgt. Charles Siler
Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Public Affairs
DJIBOUTI – The U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti, U.S. Agency for International Development and Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa representatives dedicated nearly $50,000 in renovations to Tour Ousbo Primary School in Djibouti during a ceremony at the school, Dec. 13.
U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti W. Stuart Symington and Air Force Col. John Crocker, CJTF-HOA Air Component Coordination Element director and 449th Air Expeditionary Group commander, gave speeches highlighting the positive impact the renovations will have on the students and the community.
"I want you to know that the coalition and our partners are here to help you," said Crocker. "We believe in you and we are going to be here with you.
"To the students: Take care of your school, take care of your time and learn a great deal while you are here. Because we all have great faith in you, and we want you to know that we need you and we appreciate you very much."
During the ceremony, students from the school performed a play about the importance of education, despite the loss of income from enrollment.
"We can actually influence future generations of Djiboutians, that is the wonderful thing we are able to do here, being able to build or renovate the school so that they can enjoy better standards when they are trying to learn," said Air Force Capt. Gregory Morissette, operations officer with the CJTF-HOA J-34 Engineers.
The engineers coordinated the renovation of drop ceilings and a six-stall bathroom, the replacement of wooden windows with metal windows and the construction of a new six-stall bathroom. They also built a sports pad, leveled a volleyball court and repaired the security wall around the school.
"Cooperation like the one we had with Enterprise Mohamed Aden Dousieh is what makes our work here in the Horn of Africa successful," said Morissette. "This was one of his first jobs, and he did an excellent job with the renovations and construction. I just did a transfer of responsibility with the principal here and he was very happy with the work that was done."
The principal wasn't the only one who was happy with the renovations; a number of students personally thanked the service members from CJTF-HOA for their work.
"This is a good, good thing," said Simane Mohamed, age 10, a 5th grader at Tour Ousbo Primary School. "These new buildings will give us a push to learn new things, and we are going to enjoy having the new buildings.
"My family was very happy when they saw all of the work being done on my school. The Americans are good people because they are taking care of us. Thank you for all of the work you have done."
The school renovations at Tour Ousbo were just a fraction of the work the J-34 Engineers are doing in Djibouti.
"We typically come out and do project inspections to make sure the quality meets their standards, constructing it in a safe manner, and ensuring the final product is what the locals need," said Morissette. "In Djibouti we have about 12 active projects going on right now, and we typically are managing about 10 to 20 projects going on at a time."
Renovation projects like the one completed here are just a small sample of the CJTF-HOA mission to prevent conflict, promote regional stability and protect coalition interest in order to prevail against extremism.
| Date Taken: | 12.16.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2007 03:10 |
| Story ID: | 14793 |
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| Web Views: | 100 |
| Downloads: | 77 |
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