FORWARD OPERATING BASE DEH DADI II, Afghanistan -- Members of the 530th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion from Fort Lee, Va., and members of the 10th Sustainment Brigade from Fort Drum, N.Y., gathered for a brief ceremony Oct. 24 to commemorate the recent renovations and improvements to the Babakuna School in Deh Dadi.
Lt. Col. Austin Elliot, the 530th CSSB commander said, “We hope that the children enjoy the school and study hard because education is the key to a good life.”
“We enjoy working with the people of Deh Dadi and helping them fix some of the problems they face.” Elliot added.
Capt. Sherman Pinckney, the commander’s emergency response officer, said the decision to focus on schools was made at one of the monthly shuras held at the District of Governors Compound in Deh Dadi.
The 530th CSSB arranged the funding and contracting necessary to make the renovations and supply the school. Completing the renovations, and receiving all the needed school supplies took approximately 45 days. The school received 120 desks for the class rooms and more than 600 bags of school supplies for the teachers and children.
Muhammad Sadiq Safi, the principal and also a teacher at the Babakuna School said, “The people of the village were very happy with the renovations and school supplies they received.”
Before the renovations on the school, the children had little or no supplies and had to sit on the ground. With the help of the 530th CSSB the children now have desks in all of the classrooms and plenty of school supplies to help them learn, Muhammad added.
The school has 16 teachers, instructing more than 500 children who range in age from 7 to 18 years. The school curriculum includes math, history and language instruction in Dari, Pashto and English.
In addition to the building renovation, the 530th CSSB included the construction of a volleyball court with grass so the children would have something to play on during recess breaks.
Esmatula, a student at Babakuna said, “I am really happy with [the] desks and supplies and hope that in the future the Army will help build more classrooms.”
Pinckney added, “We can see that the attitudes of the kids and village elders have changed for the positive. You can also see a sense of relief and hope that they know that good things will continue to happen to the village and country.”
The 530th CSSB is currently working on more projects throughout the village to improve the quality of life for the residents.
| Date Taken: | 10.24.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.28.2011 05:14 |
| Story ID: | 79162 |
| Location: | FORWARD OPERATING BASE DEH DADI II, AF |
| Web Views: | 92 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 530th CSSB supports local education efforts, by SSG Jared Crain, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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