Soldiers of the scout sniper team attached to Company A, 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad unload a solar powered water purifier which was given to the village of Lutifiyah, Feb. 28. A ceremony was held by local sheiks, villagers, and Soldiers from 1-63 CAB for the installation of a coalition-funded, solar- powered water filter to bring clean potable water to people in the Mahmudiyah Qada.

Nadhel, an Iraqi engineer, places a tube into a water canal to bring water into a solar powered water purifier during a ceremony attended by local sheiks, villagers and Soldiers of the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad in Lutifiyah, Feb 28. The water purifier will bring clean potable water to nearly 200 people in the village which is part of the Mahmudiyah Qada.

LUTIFIYAH, Iraq – Local sheiks, villagers and Soldiers of the 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division held a ceremony, Feb. 28, for the installation of a coalition-funded, solar-powered water filter to purify the village’s water.

The $5,300 project was funded by the Commander’s Emergency Relief Program.

The water purifier was delivered and set up adjacent to a water canal on a farm and some of the local sheiks as well as villagers gathered near the canal to view a demonstration on how the purifier works.

“This is an important contribution that means a lot to the Iraqi people. We have worked with the coalition [forces] in the past, and I’m glad our relationship is continuing,” said Sheik Hamid Turkey, a local area tribal leader.

Local area leaders chose the location in Lutifiyah because the water purifier will be available for use by 150 to 200 people who will now have access to clean potable water. The local leaders also chose the sight because of security reasons. It has the direct oversight of Sons of Iraq checkpoints, so concerns of it being stolen are minimal.

The water purifier is cost efficient because it is charged by the sun, and allows the local Iraqi people to have clean water available to them, which they did not have in the past.

“I think it’s really great for the Soldiers of the scout platoon/sniper section to be able to give this water filter to a group of local nationals who do not enjoy the same privileges we have had growing up [in the United States]. I had not seen anything like this filter before. The system is really cool,” said Spc. Kevin Stroud, a Soldier of the scout platoon, and a native of Dallas, Texas.

Nadhel, an Iraqi engineer takes a drink of purified water from a canal in Lutifiyah, Feb. 28.

1-63 CAB has partnered with local sheiks in the villages of the Mahmudiyah Qada, which includes Lutifiyah, for the emplacement of six solar powered water purifiers in the past several months. The 1-63 CAB troops plan to place more water filters in the future in different areas of the Mahmudiyah Qada, and have other future projects planned for the Lutifiyah area as well.

“It is important to help the Iraqi people have sources of clean water. It is also beneficial for the relationship we’re trying to build, because it is a sign of trust to them,” said 1st Lt. Henry Brewster, scout platoon leader, Company A, 1-63 CAB and a native of Youngstown, Ohio.

DVIDS
Story by Jamie Vernon

A local Iraqi woman from the Mahmudiyah Qada stands by her table of merchandise with her son during the Women’s Bazaar hosted by Task Force 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment at Forward Operating Base Mahmudiyah, Feb 17

Women of the Mahmudiyah Qada filled tables with homemade products and Iraqi souvenirs during a special bazaar on Forward Operation Base Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad, Feb 17.

Sponsored by Soldiers of Task Force 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, the innovative event gave troops stationed on the southern base the opportunity to purchase items and assist neighboring Iraqi families at the same time.

“This is a great way for local women to improve their small businesses and take care of their families,” said Capt. Sara Woods, with the 445th Civil Affairs Battalion. “It also allows our Soldiers to purchase authentic Iraqi souvenirs and gifts.”

Many of the women in the Mahmudiyah area lost their husbands to insurgent violence and struggle to provide for their families; making them easy targets for insurgents. The bazaar served as a way to show them they can create a better future for their families.

“This is a good project that is helping widows and people who need the money. I am so happy to be a part of it,” said Madiha Gumar, one of the small business owners, and a member of the Mahmudiyah Women’s Group.

This is the second bazaar Soldiers of TF 1-63 CAB have had the opportunity to be involved with and was much larger and had more participants than the first. Those who took part in the bazaar felt, not only they were walking away with something to take home, but also giving back to the local Iraqi community.

“It was very beneficial in what we’re trying to do for Iraq. From a personal stand point it was really gratifying to know we were helping the widows and their children,” said Dale Hamilton, a civilian law enforcement professional attached to TF 1-63 CAB.

Although the bazaar was considered a success at the end of the day, it also presented a foundation for each woman present to continue and expand her business.

“They came in and they sold these products to the Soldiers, and I think each one of them walked out with a couple hundred dollars,” said Lt. Col. Anne Resty, a Women’s Initiative coordinator. “So now afterwards they can buy more fabric and other materials to make more products that they can sell in the local markets as well.”

The event also helped to increase the good relationship between the people of Mahmudiyah and the MND-B Soldiers stationed on FOB Mahmudiyah.

“The more they see us as helpful Americans and they get to know us, they get to know that we have children, they get to know that we have spouses, and they get to know that we’re just normal people…and the benefits are multi-faceted,” said Resty. “They’re going to think of us as normal people and that we can help them.”

MNF-I

Local Mahmudiyah civic leaders, Sheiks, villagers and Multi-National Division- Baghdad Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 63rd Combined Arms Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division held a ceremony for the installation of two solar-powered water filters at Lutifiyah Nahia, Mahmudiyah Qada Dec. 16.

The $48,000 CERP water filters contract was awarded to the Ard Aleqa Contracting Company of Lutifiyah and will provide the 400 citizens of the community with potable water. Prior to the water filters this rural community did not have access to clean potable water and had no access to centrally distributed water.

“The people here get very little water, so it is good that we will be able to have clean water finally,” said Tah Hassim Fadha the Chaka 1 Leader, the equivalent of a town mayor.

Leaders from 1st Battalion, 63rd Combined Arms Battalion worked in partnership with the local government determine the best sites for the two water filters. One filter was placed near an Iraqi Army checkpoint in a rural area of with a population of 200. The other filter was located in another rural area, also with a population of 200.

The local sheik, Sheik Adnon Radhy, told the crowd he was pleased the community would now have access to clean water. After his speech the large crowd waited to taste the fresh water. One Iraqi was overheard saying that the people were so used to dirty water, that the clean water tastes bad and unfamiliar to the laughs of his fellow villagers.

“The rural areas are the heart of Mahmudiyah Qada and they are often overlooked by both the GoI and CF. It is great to be able to get out to these isolated communities and make a difference,” said 1st Lt. Robert Bowe, the civil military affairs officer for 1-63 CAB.

MNF-I

Six chicken farms in the Mahmudiyah Qada received 5,000 chickens each to help further the poultry industry Aug 1, 2008.

“This is the second cycle of farms which have been given chickens,” said Paul Heidloff, the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team lead agribusiness advisor. “Twenty-four farms are set to receive chickens throughout the cycle, with six receiving chickens every two weeks.”

This cycle of chicken distribution is scheduled to flow directly through the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.

“We are on 45-day cycles, starting with the distribution of the chicks until the full-grown chickens are brought for slaughter,” Heidloff said. “The first group that received chickens will see the front end of the holiday, where the final group will see the end.”

Heidloff said chicken prices go up during the holiday, and the farmers are expected to see a much greater profit.

“One major contributing factor to increased profit is the fact that the farmers had to put 40 percent of their profit from the first cycle back into the Bashaeer Al Kayeer Poultry Association of Mahumdiyah,” said David Speidel, embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team. “Funding for this cycle has come from the poultry association, as opposed to Commanders’ Emergency Relief Program funds.”

Speidel said it’s important to note revitalizing the chicken industry is not just about building up the poultry house, but also building a network of people to run the industry.

The farmers are being trained on maintenance of their equipment as well on how to properly care for the chickens to achieve the lowest possible mortality rate. To meet that goal, the chickens are sprayed with a vaccine to help prevent disease.

“If it comes down to using medication we will supply light antibiotics; none of the chickens produced in this area use any type of hormones,” Heidloff said.

Each farm with chickens distributed is expected to have full-grown, ready-for-slaughter, broiler chickens at the completion of each 45-day cycle.

MNF-I
By Pfc. Christopher McKenna
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division