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US, Peruvian Sailors Dedicate Classroom at Elias Aguirre Romero School

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS101223-15
12/23/2010

By Chief Mass Communication Specialist (SW/AW) Aaron Strickland, High Speed Vessel (HSV) 2 Swift Public Affairs

VENTANILLA, Peru (NNS) -- The mission commander for Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2011 joined Peruvian navy engineers Dec. 20 at Elias Aguirre Romero School in Ventanilla, Peru, to cut a ceremonial ribbon and dedicate a 512 square-foot classroom that was jointly built by American and Peruvian Sailors.

The project, completed by Seabees attached to SPS 2011 from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 28, the 2nd Marines Logistics Group and Peruvian Sailors, also included building an outdoor gym set for the school.

"Seeing the look on the children's faces as they played on the gym set, and the excitement as they celebrated with us today was the highlight of our stop in Peru," said SPS 2011 Mission Commander Cmdr. Mark Becker. "We have built not just a building and a gym set, but an enduring friendship with this community today."

The 19-man Reserve NMCB 28 team joined five U.S. Marine engineers to work with Peruvian Sailors in performing every aspect of the developmental process for the 16-by-32 foot structure, which will be used as a classroom for four year olds. The project was built using locally purchased supplies to ensure the building would be easy to maintain by the school.

Builder 2nd Class Andras Toth, with NMCB 28, was all smiles as he saw the children playing on the gym set he helped build.

"I kept telling one kid 'no' as we were building it," said Toth. "But he was the first one to ride it when it was done."

"This is a playground that all the children can use," said the U.S. Military Assistance and Advisement Group Commander for Peru, Army Col. Dan Gettings. "They will remember this for the rest of their lives. They'll remember that we built this together with the Peru navy, and that we built it as friends."

SPS 2011 is an annual deployment of U.S. ships to the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility (AOR) in the Caribbean and Latin America involving information sharing with navies, coast guards and civilian services throughout the region.

Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (COMUSNAVSO) is the naval component command for U.S. Southern Command and is responsible for all naval personnel and assets in the AOR. COMUSNAVSO conducts a variety of missions in support of the U.S. Maritime Strategy, including theater security cooperation, relationship building, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, community relations and counter-illicit trafficking operations.