Soldiers in Iraq Open Senior Center, Orphanage, Schools

By Daniel Hamon

A recent ceremony marked the opening of a senior center and orphanage in the city of Irbil, Iraq. The senior center will now be the home for 100 indigent elderly people. The orphanage will house 500 homeless children. The combined facility in Irbil has an elevator, swimming pool, soccer field, garden and other amenities. In  late February, a new school for 360 girls in the province of Diwaniyah was completed. These are only two of the more than 4,400 projects, representing a total investment of $7 billion, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed in Iraq.

As reported here, Michael Klecheski, Diwaniyah Provincial Reconstruction Team leader for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said:

We celebrate a school with classrooms and hallways in which young women will be able to develop into productive members of the new Iraq that is growing around us all. Construction of this new school was itself a reflection of that new Iraq, it took courage and determination to bring it to completion, especially on the part of those Iraqis who did the work, oversaw it, and brought us to this day. May this school always stand as a symbol of partnership between our countries.

Photo by Hassan Mohammad, USACE

Comments

[Ligia]

WOW! 4,400 projects? This is very interesting to know.

God bless the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and all people that contribute to help indigent elderly people.

[Dan Bodwell]

What a spectacular reminder of the generosity of the U.S. government and all our country is doing to give millions in Iraq lives filled with rescources, opportunity and hope. Awesome!