|
Blackanthem Military News
|
Last Updated:
Mar 19, 2010 - 6:16:21 PM |
|
|
Blackanthem Military News
 |
| Shakir Ne'ma abid-own, director general of education for Diwaniyah Province, ( far right) and Michael Klecheski, Diwaniyah Provincial Reconstruction Team lead, (center) were among those officiating at the Feb. 26 opening ceremony for the new $1.2 million secondary school for girls in Diwaniyah. (USACE photo by Alicia Embrey) |
DIWANIYAH, Iraq - Female students in Diwaniyah are celebrating the unveiling of a new secondary school for girls.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the Al Irshad Secondary School for Girls Feb. 26 to celebrate the completion of the new $1.2 million facility. The 12-classroom, multi-level school includes a laboratory, library, storage rooms and administrative buildings for 360 students. Iraqi contractor Al-Kahlaa Company began the project in December 2007 and employed 50 local men during construction.
Speakers at the ceremony included Shakir Ne'ma abid-own, director general of education for Diwaniyah Province, Michael Klecheski, lead for the Diwaniyah Provincial Reconstruction Team, and Lt. Col. Dwight Davies, the officer in charge of the Diwaniyah-Najaf Resident Office for the Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Shakir thanked everyone involved with the project for their efforts, saying it was quite an achievement. "We need more schools like this because most lack such good construction," he added.
Klecheski pointed out that "in Iraq, in the United States, in every society that I know of, education is among the things people value most for their children. And so, we come here today to celebrate the opening of a new school. 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," Klecheski continued. "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." The United States of America is proud to have played its part in financing the project, he said, and proud to have worked so closely with Iraqi engineers and builders in seeing it through to completion. "May this school always stand as a symbol of partnership between our countries," he added.
USACE personnel from the Diwaniyah-Najaf Resident Office provided construction management for the school. "We are making a difference - you can see it in the smiles of the local residents who are diligently working everyday to provide a brighter future for their children and grandchildren," said Davies. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its partners are building strong today to help Iraq move forward for tomorrow."
USACE has completed more than 4,400 projects in Iraq. More than a quarter of those are schools and educational facilities for the Iraqi people. With more than 1,100 schools completed, hundreds of thousands of students now learn in modern facilities that meet international health and safety standards.
Note: Alicia Embrey is a public affairs specialist with the Gulf Region South district, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iraq.
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS:
 |
| Iraqi students and teachers participated in a Feb. 26 ribbon cutting ceremony for a new 12-classroom secondary school for girls in Diwaniyah. The school has the facilities to support 360 students. (USACE photo by Alicia Embrey) |
|
 |
| Students participating in a ribbon cutting ceremony in Diwaniyah all wore badges that said, "The Secondary (School) for Brilliant Girls." The new $1.2 million facility was officially opened Feb. 26. (USACE photo by Alicia Embrey) |
|
 |
| Students participating in a ribbon cutting ceremony in Diwaniyah all wore badges that said, "The Secondary (School) for Brilliant Girls." The new $1.2 million facility was officially opened Feb. 26. (USACE photo by Alicia Embrey) |
|
|
Comments
NO Soliciting.
Comments with links to websites or soliciting services will be removed.
Please read our Terms of use for more information.
|
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
