Photo By Airman 1st Class Darrion Browning | Airmen assigned to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab...... read more read more
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Throughout the world service members are seen by some as objects more than people. The uniform, professionalism, and tidiness of appearance camouflage the individuality of each service member limiting individuality to a single strip of fabric on their chest identifying their family name. This stereotype reigns true; possibly even more on deployments. However, the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, chapel staff looks to restore the humanity seen in service members within the local community this holiday season.
"They see us as more human than just soldiers," said Maj. Laserian Nwoga, 380th AEW Chaplain, as he explains the outcome of the ongoing humanitarian project. According to Nwoga, we aren't here just to support the warfighter; we’re also people with emotions that feel for the communities we are in. In an effort to touch the community a small humanitarian project began.
The project was founded by U.S. Air Force Chaplain James Longe, a previous Chaplain assigned to Al Dhafra Air Base, who once a month would deliver mass at a local cathedral in the UAE.
Not long after preaching to the community, Chaplain Longe saw a need for basic necessities such as food, clothes, and other toiletries. He then reached out to the catholic parishioners on ADAB to donate what they could for the cause.
Time has passed and the gesture to the community has continued but this holiday season was the most fruitful. "Operation Stealth Christmas came to me as an idea because the people that are in those communities don't know we are planning on doing this for them," said Tech. Sgt. April Castro-Tover, 380th AEW non-commissioned officer in charge of chapel plans and programs.
They know we bring a small care package every month but we wanted to make this big for them, and I think we succeeded 100 percent, Castro-Tover continued. After campaigning, ADAB chapel staff were able to gather an assortment of items to donate to local shelters throughout the community. The drive also served as a way for donating service members to learn about the different services the chapel has to offer.
“We’ve had groups of people drop off tons of boxes,” said Castro-Tover. A couple of people have already mentioned they didn’t know where the chapel was located or didn’t know what the chapel had to offer, Castro-Tover added. The disconnect could stem from the fact that a lot of people don’t go to church, Castro-Tover continued. However, the chapel doesn’t necessarily offer religious stuff, it’s here to take care of their spiritual needs and people often get the two confused.
The chapel staff unloaded box after box from trucks Dec. 23 at a local cathedral in UAE. The cathedral will then disseminate the care packages to a series of shelters throughout the community.
“Working in this career field opened my eyes to what we have back at home," said Castro-Tover. "It’s a very big deal to see how we can help others because their Christmas may just be with family and nothing else. With Operation Stealth Christmas it makes me feel very happy that our community on ADAB, got to help other families open something for Christmas."
| Date Taken: | 12.23.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.07.2018 23:20 |
| Story ID: | 261507 |
| Location: | AL DHAFRA AIR BASE, AE |
| Web Views: | 321 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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