America's North Shore Journal

Iraqi police and U.S. Sol­diers carry a bag of book bags to a school in the Fay­laq neigh­bor­hood dur­ing their com­bined human­i­tar­ian mis­sion, Dec. 22. Photo by Pfc. Jes­sica Luhrs

Three hun­dred Iraqi school­child­ren in the vil­lage of Fay­laq, near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, Iraq, were treated to a sur­prise dona­tion of school neces­si­ties Dec. 22.

In an effort to improve edu­ca­tion in Kirkuk, Iraqi police and mem­bers of the Al-Atyah Women's Orga­ni­za­tion, assisted by Sol­diers from the 1^st Bat­tal­ion, 30^th Infantry Reg­i­ment, attached to 1^st Brigade Com­bat Team, 1^st Armored Divi­sion, donated school sup­plies for children.

This human­i­tar­ian mis­sion was a part of a larger mis­sion to reach out to the peo­ple in this neigh­bor­hood, said Hanna Hasan Husein, a leader at Al-Atyah.

U.S. Army 1^st Lt. Rus­sell Raines, the 1^st pla­toon leader for B-Company, 1^st Batt., 30^th Inf. Regt., whose pla­toon helped the IP's and Women's Orga­ni­za­tion mem­bers in deliv­er­ing the sup­plies, believes these com­bined activ­i­ties are impor­tant to sta­bil­ity in the region.

The progress the IP's, AAWO and U.S. forces are mak­ing in the vil­lages can already be seen, accord­ing to Husein. The chil­dren are talk­ing to the IP's and Sol­diers, laugh­ing, smil­ing and at one point the chil­dren were singing with the IP's.

Human­i­tar­ian aid plays a huge part in the fight we are in now, said Husein. It allows the peo­ple to see the IP are here to also help them, not just con­duct raids or com­bat patrols.

It is impor­tant for the Iraqi pop­u­la­tion to see the IP's and U.S. forces con­duct­ing these types of oper­a­tions which show that we are allies and not occu­piers, accord­ing to Raines.

Raines also feels it is a wel­come change of pace for him and his Sol­diers to be able to help children.

For every­one involved it is a pow­er­ful expe­ri­ence, through part­ner­ship we were able to improve the lives of these stu­dents, Raines explained.

"The IP and U.S. forces mis­sion here is the peo­ple of Iraq," said Raines. "We want them to know we are all here to pro­tect them and keep them safe."

"Through­out their time here, 1^st Batt., 30^th Inf. Reg. plans on assist­ing the Iraqi police and AAWO," said Raines.

Accord­ing to Raines, U.S. forces, the IP's and Women's Orga­ni­za­tion will con­tinue to deliver school sup­plies and other items not avail­able to students.

"This helps the com­mu­nity build a rela­tion­ship of trust with the IP's and hope­fully a bet­ter future," said Raines.

DVIDS
Story by Pfc. Jes­sica Luhrs