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Underwood Sailors Helps Refurbish Schoolhouse in Honduras

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS060505-04
Release Date: 5/5/2006 7:34:00 AM

By Journalist Seaman Charles A. Ordoqui, USS George Washington Carrier Strike Group Public Affairs

PUERTO CASTILLA, Honduras (NNS) -- USS Underwood (FFG 36) Sailors, along with sailors from the Honduran navy, helped refurbish a local elementary schoolhouse in Puerto Castilla, Honduras, May 3 during a scheduled community relations project.

Sailors visited the schoolhouse, named 14 August, to paint its exterior walls and replace its old wrought iron bar windows with new ones.

"It is a very important part of our mission to help our neighbors here in Central and South America," said Cmdr. Roderick Fraser, commanding officer of Underwood. “Working hand in hand with the Honduran navy to repair this school makes our Sailors feel good about the part they play in this important mission and helps us build friendships both at a personal level and at an international level."

More than 30 Underwood Sailors and 15 Honduran sailors painted the walls of the schoolhouse, a learning place for more than 200 students.

"It feels so good to be making a difference for all those kids," said Operations Specialist 3rd Class Jorge Zapata. "When you see the look on their faces when they see you working to make their lives better, that feeling just hits you deep inside."

Sailors also replaced the school’s wrought iron windows with newer and stronger ones.

"It felt really good to put new bar windows in a place where all they need is simple things like that, which we take for granted," said Hull Technician 1st Class (SW) Eric A. Boehringer. "It was a very humbling experience to see how happy these kids were to see us working for them."

Along with helping to refurbish the schoolhouse, Sailors also handed out candy, Frisbees and other assorted items.

"It was fulfilling for me to see the children enjoy the simple things in life, such as a bar of chocolate," said Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 2nd Class Clayton S. Reyes. "It really makes me appreciate the gifts in life we don't take the time to respect."

“I am very proud of the overwhelming volunteerism that my crew embraces,” said Fraser.

Underwood is operating in the Caribbean Sea as part of the USS George Washington (CVN 73) Carrier Strike Group conducting “Partnership of the Americas,” a training and readiness deployment of U.S. naval forces with countries from the Caribbean and Latin America, in support of U.S. Southern Command objectives for enhanced maritime security.