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Navy Builds Desks for Bahraini Youth
Story Number: NNS040227-09
Release Date: 2/27/2004 3:16:00 PM
By Journalist 2nd Class Tim Walsh, Naval Support Activity Bahrain Public Affairs
MANAMA, Bahrain (NNS) -- Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 and Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/Commander, U.S. 5th Fleet’s chaplain’s office teamed up to help Bahraini youth in February.
The Seabees are making 145 desks and benches to support the Mother-Child Home Education Program (MOCEP). The program, which the Bahrain Red Crescent Society started in January 2002, stresses the importance of early education, explained program founder and director, Dr. Julie Hadeed.
According to Hadeed, Lt. Cmdr. Russell Graef, the battalion's chaplain, contacted the Bahrain Red Crescent Society to see if they had community service opportunities for the Navy.
“When Dr. Hadeed told me about this program, I wanted to find a way to support it, and the Seabees were eager to help,” Graef said. “It is a privilege to work with the Red Crescent Society and Dr. Hadeed. We are honored to support this program.”
MOCEP is similar to home schooling. Each session runs 25 weeks. Each week, the women gather for a three-hour training session where they cover lesson plans and other empowerment skills.
There are two components of MOCEP--discussions and home educational training for the children. According to the MOCEP Web site, the combination of the components serve to empower mothers with skills necessary for improving attitudes, while giving children a jump start on their education before entering primary school. Also, once a week, MOCEP representatives visit the participants' homes to check progress.
Hadeed said the desks built by the Seabees helped create a learning environment and “will make a difference and have a big impact on the whole household.” The Seabees were building more than desks, Hadeed explained. They were also “bridging the minds and hearts” of the local community.
The Seabees from NMCB 1 are working quickly to provide desks for the families, yet they are also juggling two other humanitarian projects. At the start of the desk building project, the Seabees were finishing up a job at the Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sanctuary, while most of the detachment departed for Jordan to build a helicopter pad for medical evacuations.
“We are spread pretty thin,” said Lt. j.g. Debra King, the NMCB 1 Detachment Bahrain officer in charge, “but we are going to do as much as we can, for as long as we can.”
For related news, visit the Naval Support Activity Bahrain Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/nsabahrain.
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