Civil Affairs Teams improve Yemen girl's school

[SR-25]

By Sgt. Brian E. McElaney,
United States Marine Corps Public Affairs

ADEN, Yemen (USASOC News Service, Oct 19, 2005) — Approximately 1,100 high school girls from the local community here will have better educational opportunities and increased ability to take part in their society thanks to a $256,000 expansion and renovation of the Darshaad Girl's School by the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa.

"You have noticed how the school is overcrowded," said Hamida Ali Mohammed, principal of the Darshaad Girl's School. "After the completion of this project, the students will have much more room than before."

The project is part of a series of schools, clinics and medical and veterinary assistance programs coordinated by CJTF-HOA's 96th Civil Affairs Battalion detachment as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The 96th CAB is the only active-duty Army civil affairs unit. It is based at Fort Bragg, N.C. and some of its Soldiers are currently deployed to Africa in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

A new third floor is being added to the current structure to allow for more classrooms - allowing class sizes to be cut in half. Additionally, new science labs are being added on the second and third floors.

Secondary education is rare for young women in Yemen. While there are six primary schools available for girls in Aden, Darshaad is the only secondary school. When the school first opened in 1998, enrollment was low, but in recent years more families are allowing their daughters to continue their education, said Hamida.
"Of course my school is very specific and different than the other schools in this district," said Hamida. "But it is necessary for the girls here to be educated so that the other half of the population can be activated. It is becoming a symbol that families in Yemen are now able to depend on their daughters."

"There is an obvious kind of impact you can have when you build something like a school," said Capt. Todd Svacina, team leader, Civil Affairs Team 624. "It makes the area more stable and really helps people. We all think we have the greatest job in the world, we get to fight the war on terror by building things instead of tearing things down."

Yemen currently has three times as many illiterate females than males, said Svacina. However, both local and national Yemeni government organizations have called on the United States Embassy, Sana'a, CJTF-HOA (in which several Yemen military officers have participated) and other organizations to help increase education in several areas throughout the country. CJTF-HOA units are often a perfect fit to bring help to those who need it most because many remote areas of Yemen are considered dangerous for foreign travelers.

"Once you've been in the country, you learn that it's a country of peace loving people," said Svacina. "But we have quite a higher level of security, so we can get into areas that [other organizations] would normally ignore for safety reasons."

CJTF-HOA has undertaken a growing number of projects over the last few months, as the CA teams and US State Department officials work to improve relationships with officials throughout the country. When the CA teams first started operating in Yemen, suspicion and rough relations hindered their ability to move freely throughout the country. However a combination of coordination and friendship has resulted in a building of trust in the coalition units hoping to bring aid to those in need - allowing them increased flexibility in the kinds of missions they undertake.

"There has been a very positive reaction to our operations," said Svacina. "The only thing we can accredit that to is our transparency. That level of trust has been very valuable to us - what was a very difficult mission at first became a real pleasure to work afterward."

At the Darshaad school, officials relate that these relationships will result in better education for thousands of young women and a higher standard of living for Yemenis in Aden and the surrounding areas.

"We are not only female teachers but we are encouraging female students to finish their education so they can improve their style of life and help develop society," said Hamida. "Working with [CJTF-HOA] and the contractors has been very rewarding both professionally and personally. The people are very friendly, and are doing a great thing for our students."

http://news.soc.mil/releases/05OCT/051019-02.htm