Marine engineers repair school, provide facility for Mozambican youth 

Trash riddles the compound where the two grimy, aging cinder-block buildings stand.  The ground is covered with pieces of broken glass that seem even more abundant than the particles of dust in the air - not the ideal setting one might imagine for the education and development of a country’s youth.     

However, Marines with the 6th Engineer Support Battalion said they do see potential in the structures.  The road to facility rehabilitation may be a long one, but the Marines, along with their counterparts from the Armed Forces for the Defense of Mozambique (FADM) are committed to the task of restoring the school.

The U.S. Marine engineer battalion is in Mozambique as part of exercise Shared Accord 2010, a 10-day exercise designed to build U.S. Africa Command partner nation capacity for peace and stability operations.  The SA10 task force of more than 700 service members will also be working to provide humanitarian civic-assistance and engineering projects.  

“It’s a great feeling to know you’re helping these (students),” said Lance Cpl. Gary Munro, a combat engineer with Bravo Company, 6th ESB, 4th Marine Logistics Group, from South Bend, Ind.  Munro, a reserve Marine, works as a construction contractor in his hometown of New Haven, Ind. “I see this as just doing a job back home. The Marines and [Mozambican soldiers] are my crew; the only difference is that the satisfaction is that much greater.”  

The 27-year-old combat engineer said the smiles on the faces of local children and the curiosity of their expressions has kept the entire group motivated to do their job well.  

Munro is not the only Marine to put his civilian skill set to good use; many of the reserve Marines in the battalion work as general contractors and carpenters while not on active duty, and they said their everyday skills are coming in handy.  

During the coming days, Marines will use approximately 80 gallons of paint and primer, 2,000 pounds of hand-mixed concrete and several thousand pounds of lumber to reconstruct the school, which will be used to teach male and female middle and high school students.  

Antonio Ripelela, a 25-year-old Mozambican soldier from Nampula, worked with the Marines to replace windows and custom make doors at the school.  Previously, the windows and doors were either inadequate or broken.  Ripelela said the experience was rewarding.  

“It is good to know the children are having a better chance – a better education than I did,” Ripelela said. He explained how when he was a boy he would attend school outside beneath a tree. “The conditions here will be good for learning.” 

The Mozambican soldiers plan to continue working alongside the Marines to complete the reconstruction of the school in Moamba, as well as a second school in the nearby town of Sabie.  

However, before the project is complete, there is much work to be done. Marines and Mozambican soldiers are painting six classrooms, roofing the teachers’ quarters, constructing new desks, and filling holes in the floor with new concrete.  

Whether framing new doors, painting classrooms, or constructing a new bathroom facility, Gunnery Sgt. Chris Haggardy, company gunnery sergeant with Bravo Co., 6th ESB, 4th MLG, said the Marines had similar emotional stimulants driving them. Haggardy’s personal stake?  Seeing the literacy rate of the female population surpass current levels.  

“Even if what we do keeps one girl from dropping out, it’s a good thing,” said the South Bend, Ind., native.  

The reconstruction of the school is only one aspect of the exercise, which encompasses a broad spectrum of not only the Marine Corps’ capabilities, but the FADM forces’ as well.  

The exercise is scheduled to end Aug. 13.  All U.S. forces will return to their home bases in the United States and Europe at the conclusion of the exercise.

Shared Accord is coordinated by U.S. Africa Command’s Marine component, U.S. Marine Forces Africa.  Members of the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Army are also providing support for SA10.