Navy Seabees Complete Ethiopian School Facilities and Enhance Education Opportunities
By Tech. Sgt. Ryan Labadens Combined Joint task Force – Horn of Africa, and Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 Public Affairs
DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia (NNS) -- Ethiopian and U.S. personnel gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate a new school house and two latrines at the Gende Gerada Primary School here May 22.
The school was started by previous Naval Mobile Construction Battalions (NMCB) but was finished by the Seabees of NMCB 3.
The entire project perfectly lines up with the U.S. Navy's slogan "Americas Navy-A Global Force for Good."
NMCB 3 completed construction of two latrines and added final touch ups to the school house after their arrival in February, said Lt. j.g. Sarah Ursetti, NMCB 3 officer in charge.
The school already hosts approximately 2,500 students. The new four-room school house now allows the school to accommodate 200 additional students, said the principal of Gende Gerada, Kumsa Baysa.
Dire Dawa education officials plan on using the new building to teach children ages five to six, said Kumsa. This will be the first time the school will have the facilities to hold a kindergarten program.
"The addition of the new classrooms will provide great benefits for the education of our country," said Kumsa. "I would like to say 'thank you' to the people of the United States government and our people who worked with the U.S. military."
The Seabees were not alone in their construction efforts, said Ursetti. Since the project began in April 2010, several Gende Gerada school boys lent a helping hand to the Seabee construction crews whenever and wherever they could.
"It started off with three or four boys initially, but when our crew arrived that number grew to about seven, with several others helping out as we neared the end," said Ursetti.
"They helped us during every recess and even on the weekends," said Builder 2nd Class Benjamin Weber, NMCB 3's project supervisor for the school. "They are hard workers. I would welcome them to my crew anytime."
While the students and the Seabees were working together they taught each other about their culture and a little of their language.
"We learned a lot from each other," said Builder Costructionman Jaqui Shaw. "They taught us about their culture and we taught them about ours on top of answering endless questions about America. It was a great experience."
During the dedication ceremony, Rear Adm. Michael Franken, CJTF-HOA commander, presented each of the young students with his command coin to thank them for their hard work and dedication to their school.
In his speech during the ceremony, Kumsa revealed his vision of the results the new facilities will bring.
"In the future, you will see many kids filling up this school and we will use it for the betterment of our country," said Kumsa
NMCB 3 is an expeditionary naval construction element currently assigned to U.S. 6th Fleet's Commander, Task Force 68, to provide construction, engineering, and security services that support national strategy, naval power projection, humanitarian assistance and contingency operations.
