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Airmen help Kyrgyz principal give back to community children

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Michael Voss
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
MANAS AIR BASE, KYRGYZSTAN --  Tuesday, Oct. 7, started the same way as many others for a group of Airmen from the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, here. They got out of bed, but instead of putting on uniforms, they donned civilian work clothes, loaded up trucks with supplies and got ready to head out to a small village in Kyrgyzstan.

This group of all volunteers headed by 376th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron Director of Operations, Captain Celina Noyes, has been working to help better the Vasilievika School.

Vasilievika is a small elementary school located in the village of Vinogradnoye about ten miles from Manas Air Base, but forty minutes by car because of the poor roads. Vasilievika School was built and funded by the Russians in the 1970s, but after the fall of the Soviet Union, it has seen many hard years. Due to the lack of money for upkeep and improvements, among the other expenses that come with running a school, a large portion of the structure is now unusable.

Built to initially house nearly 150 students, it has been looted throughout the years and now serves only half that number.

"This school receives most of its support from the base," said Captain Noyes. "We have done a lot of work during my time here and many of the supplies come from donations of Liberandos."

Together, the 376th AEW Wing Staff and Operations Group have supported the school since 2004, compiling donations, pooling skills such as painting and carpentry, and just spending time with the children.

"We have had so many volunteers, it is truly amazing," said Captain Noyes. "I send out the sign-up sheet for the trip and it is filled within the day. We have made improvements, like painting some of the classrooms and adding linoleum flooring. We even helped install a water pump so the students could have access to indoor running water."

With the temperatures here capable of dipping into the minus 30s range, the support from Manas Airmen is more important than ever. Nearly half the windows in the school are missing all their glass, and as the locals prepare for the harsh winter ahead, conserving heat becomes a serious concern.

The group volunteered on this particular trip to install plastic sheeting over windows and sheets of plywood where there was no windows, helping keep the cold air out.

"Our work isn't done here," said Tech. Sgt. Chad West, 376th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. "I wish we weren't, but we are running out of time on this trip. We need to go back soon. They can trust more of us will come back next week to work some more."

Some of the volunteers worked in the school's courtyard using large empty wooden cable spools from the base's civil engineer squadron as table bases.

"It's amazing that a cable spool, a sheet of plywood for a tabletop, and a coat of paint makes a great children's table," said wing staff member Senior Airman Alex Farver. "These kids have so little that every effort makes a world of difference to them. It's really a humbling experience."
As the crew of volunteers from Manas loaded up their generator, saws, hammers and trash, and prepared to head back to the base, they left with not only a productive day's work to show, but further strengthened the positive relationship that has been built throughout the years and will be here for years to come.

While the modernization of the school is important, perhaps the greatest gain of the day was this bond of friendship between the deployed Airmen and the members of the Vinogradnoye community.

"Even though I have to give up my off-time, I have been and will continue to come out here every chance I get," said Tech. Sgt. Henry Offerding, 376th ESFS. "It's all about little kids being happy. They can either be sad or happy; we are working to make it the latter."