Positivity: Iraqi Elementary School “Transformation” Completed

In two months, the school went from “horrible” to “an amazing transformation”:

Completion of Al Buhaira School in Mahmudiyah is gift to children, Soldiers
By Spc. Karl Johnson,
363rd MPAD
March 19, 2006

FOB MAHMUDIYAH, Iraq – Amongst the smiles and shouts of excited children, U.S. and Iraqi military officials came together Monday to celebrate the completion of the Al Buhaira Elementary School remodeling project in Mahmudiyah.

During an emotional ceremony held inside the all-girls school, eager students greeted their guests with cheers and applause. Proud young Iraqi students sang while escorting 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division Soldiers through the school in order to view first-hand, the progress made during the two-month project.

“When we first visited the school, it was horrible,” recalled Brig. Gen. Mahdi Chark Zier Kadim.

“The building was horrible,” he reiterated, “but the students still had a desire to study and learn. They pushed us to get this project done.”

….. The hard-luck school, which nevertheless boasts some of the highest test scores in the country, first came to the attention of U.S. and Iraqi military forces when it was used as a polling location in December’s elections. Littered with broken glass, dilapidated ceilings and crumbling walls, it was hand-selected as a candidate for reconstruction.

“General Mahdi chose this school because it was in the worst condition of any school in Mahmudiyah,” said Lt. Col. Eric Conrad, commander of the Brigade Troops Battalion, 2nd BCT, 101st Abn. Div., and serving as Military Transition Team chief for 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division. “When the project started, he not only sent his own soldiers to help with the reconstruction, but also contributed with monetary assistance.”

Struck by the school’s amazing transformation, an emotional Conrad said the building’s condition just two months ago reminded him of the “bleakness” he had witnessed as a young boy visiting East Berlin.

“The first time we went in the school, the children were crying,” said Conrad. “This time, because of the children cheering and singing, it was the Soldiers who had a tear in their eye.”

Also swept up by the emotion of the event was the school’s staff. Overwhelmed by the children’s cheers, several tearful school officials expressed their inability to adequately thank the soldiers who had made the project possible.

“This community has always been proud of its students,” said Conrad. “Now they can be just as proud of their school.”

….. In a nation marked by many years of conflict and struggle, it is hoped that the efforts of those who want to build a better future for Iraq don’t go unnoticed, and the cheers and tears of joy brought on by the success at the Al Buhaira Elementary School will prove to be contagious.