RED HORSE Airmen Complete Renovations, Dedicate Clinic
Story by Cpl. Adam C. Schnell; Photos Courtesy 254th RED HORSE - Posted May, 2004
Reposted from the CJTF Horn of Africa Website
Now on the ground in Djibouti, the Guardsmen of the 254th RED HORSE, alongside their counterparts from the 219th RED HORSE, set about building a better future for residents of that country. Their first project is a full renovation of the Medical Center in the city of Wea.
Personnel with Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa participated in a ceremony to dedicate the cooperation and hard work put forth to renovate the Wea medical clinic and doctors quarters here May 8.
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The $65,000 renovation project, funded by CJTF-HOA, spanned over six weeks starting March 14. The clinic, which was in a state of disrepair, will again be able to provide basic and emergency health care to the more than 1,700 people in the area.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony, a celebration of the work completed on the clinic, started off with speeches from local leaders, including Army Col. Michael Kriz, director of CJTF-HOA Logistics, Abdillahi Wais Ajab, the Wea village chief, and Air Force Capt. Rusty Vaira, commander of the 219th RED HORSE Squadron, one of the civil engineer squadrons responsible for the project.
With speeches finished, letters of appreciation were given out to local villagers who were instrumental to the success of the project. Three awards were given out to villagers for their help in assisting the 219th/254th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadrons, while in Wea.
The two squadrons, which combined efforts to make this project a success, also come together to support CJTF-HOA by helping to build relationships in the region by providing humanitarian support in the form of renovation projects like this one.
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Coming into the village, the airmen from the RED HORSE Squadrons thought they would be quite isolated from the people in the village. Before they knew it, they became part of the community with many local people lending a helping hand.
The people here were very helpful with everything, said Vaira. Weve made a lot of friends while in Wea. We are leaving now, but we are leaving with good memories.
After giving awards to the individuals who lent to biggest hand with the project, leaders went inside the complex to share a meal and some laughter. As they ate, they admired the new renovations done to the complex.
The complex, which included a clinic and a doctors living quarters, was in a dilapidated state and needed many renovations including new doors and windows, electrical work and a fresh coat of paint on the external and internal structure of the building.
These new renovations have made a big difference to the nearly 40 people every day who walk through the doors of the clinic, said Ajab.
For the almost 30 RED HORSE personnel who worked on the clinic, their first project since arriving in the Horn of Africa presented some challenges. They traveled more than an hour to the site and worked more than 10 hours each day.
We are pleased to see the Americans doing a nice job that we needed badly, said Ajab. Without the Americans, we would have never been able to renovate our clinic.
This project, while improving the quality of life for the people in the village, also strengthens the bonds between the two countries in the Global War on Terrorism. The better quality of life the people have, the more stable and peaceful their communities are, said Kriz.
In our fight against terrorism, the people of Djibouti have been our resolute partner, said Kriz. Let this clinic be a perpetual symbol of that partnership.
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