Local farmers return to home village
Submitted by: 3d Marine Aircraft Wing
Story Identification #: 200442221619
Story by Sgt. J.L. Zimmer III



AL ASAD, Iraq (April 22, 2004) -- The Marine Corps' mission of winning the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people brought the Air Base staff, here, to a local date palm grove to foster friendship with the local communities and villages, April 17.

A local contractor presented an idea to the Marine Corps "mayor" of Al Asad to allow a group men from local communities to clean, irrigate and pollinate a date palm grove containing more than 1,500 of the fruit-bearing trees.

"This date nut grove has been here for hundreds of years," said Master Gunnery Sgt. H. Joseph Wright, deputy mayor, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. "(The Iraqi's) were hired to get the date nut grove back into operation."

One of the benefits the farmers will receive later this year is compensation for months of manual labor in the Iraqi heat and maintaining the grove until is it time for harvest.

"When the harvest comes, 50 percent of the profit will go to the farmers," added the 51-year-old Berkley, Mich., native. "The other 50 percent is given back to the local communities via the civil affairs group."

The money given to the communities by the civil affairs group can be used for anything from rebuilding schools and medical clinics, to helping restore trade schools, Wright added.

"The only money the Marine Corps will pay out will be used to purchase the pump needed to irrigate the field," he said.

One Iraqi, hired to clean and trim the palm trees, is here to work a steady job and make money to support his family.

"Before the Americans came it was difficult for me to support my wife and three children," he said with the assistance of a translator. "Sometimes I would borrow from others and sometimes I did nothing. Now that the Americans are here, I can support my family with the things they need."

Lance Cpl. Dana L. Cushing, a 28-year-old Toronto, native and member of the Air Base staff, has worked beside some of the locals since arriving in Iraq Jan. 16. She has also been educated, by the contractor hired to provide the workers for the farm, about the nature of the grove and the people who originally planted the trees.

"These villagers were literally pushed out of their homes (near the date palm grove)," she said. "Some of these people have not seen this date nut grove in 12 years. This has really been a homecoming for some of them.

"There are more than 20 types of nuts in the grove," she continued. "The contractor can walk through the grove and tell someone the name and type of dates on each tree."

With the help of a translator, another local Iraqi working at the grove was able to express extreme gratitude for the efforts of the Americans to help them rebuild their country.

"In the past we were unable to find work," he said. "The people of my town were angry at Saddam and had nothing to eat but soup. Work is available now that Americans inhabit the base."

A farmer since the age of 12, another Iraqi who was working for the Americans, says that this opportunity has given him a chance to support the 10 people in his family.

"My father is too old to work and now I am responsible for the family," he said. "Before Americans came, I was a farmer and what I made was not enough to maintain my family. Before, more than one person in my family had to work to support them. Now, I make enough money to maintain my family."

The contractor who hired the farmers said that the ability to work where some of his family members lived generations ago is fulfilling.

"The Marines have given us back what is ours," he said. "I am glad we are able to come back and start over. We are going to take the money and give back to our villages what is theirs."