Soldiers Lend a Hand in School, Governance Building Renovations

Soldiers Lend a Hand in School, Governance Building Renovations
Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System
BlackAnthem Military News
1st Lt. Brian Cooke; 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery
09.05.2007

Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldiers assisted with the renovation of a kindergarten and a neighborhood advisory counsel building in the western Baghdad neighborhoods of Hateen and Yarmouk, signaling the end of a pair of summer-long reconstruction projects.

Task Force Patriot, the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery, attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, initiated reconstruction efforts at the Al-Tameen Kindergarten in Hateen and the Neighborhood Advisory Council headquarters in Yarmouk in late July.

The Noor Baghdad Company started work at the Al-Tameen Kindergarten on July 21. Electricians re-wired the school to more efficiently distribute the power received from a local generator. Plumbers replaced hundreds of meters of piping and installed new toilets and bathroom fixtures throughout the school. Contractors re-tiled every bathroom, repaired cracked and crumbling tile floors in the hallways and classrooms, and painted the entire interior of the school. Day laborers removed the trash and debris which had accumulated on the school’s grounds and cut down overgrown vegetation. The contracting firm also removed rusted out playground equipment and replaced it with new, safer equipment.

The task force will mark the beginning of the new school year and welcome students back with a cooperative medical engagement, in which U.S. and Iraqi army doctors will provide a free medical screening to all returning students. The event is currently scheduled for late September.

From July 23 to Aug. 21, the Noor Baghdad Company also worked to repair and revitalize the headquarters of the Yarmouk Neighborhood Advisory Council.

Workers fixed a sewage leak in the bathrooms and replaced pipes, toilets, and faucets. They also re-wired the electrical system, painted the interior of the building and removed dead and unsightly vegetation from the NAC’s front courtyard.

“Part of being in government means empowering the people,” said Lt. Col. Mike Lawson, commander of Task Force Patriot. “In spending the money to renovate the Yarmouk NAC, we’ve given the NAC the ability to better engage their constituents. We’ve empowered the NAC to go out and do likewise.”

Task Force Patriot will mark the re-opening of the Yarmouk NAC building with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and subsequent cooperative medical engagement, which will be presided over by Dr. Faleh al-Mansour, the chairman of the Yarmouk NAC.