{"id":321826,"date":"2024-11-25T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=321826"},"modified":"2024-11-28T13:12:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T13:12:40","slug":"increasing-opportunities-in-gabon-one-school-project-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=321826","title":{"rendered":"Increasing opportunities in Gabon one school project at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineer Maj. Ben Ketchum, then a captain, and Staff Sgt. Ed Achana with the U.S. Libreville Embassy Office of Security Cooperation pose with local Gabonese school children at the recently renovated Mabanda Primary School February 23, 2023. The renovation was funded through U.S. Africa Command\u2019s Humanitarian Assistance program with construction managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in close partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Gabon. Roof and drainage improvements were a key part of the renovations, as previously the school had to be evacuated on rainy days, severely impacting learning schedules. (Courtesy photo)
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\n Curious Gabonese school children look on as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineer Maj. Ben Ketchum, then a captain, conducts a final inspection of drainage improvements at the Mabanda Primary School in Gabon with a contractor February 23, 2023. The drainage improvements were part of recently completed renovations funded through U.S. Africa Command\u2019s Humanitarian Assistance program with construction managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in close partnership with the U.S. Embassy in Gabon. Roof and drainage improvements were a key part of the renovations, as previously the school had to be evacuated on rainy days, severely impacting learning schedules. (U.S. Navy photo by Cmdr. Lisa C. Berg)
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\n A sign celebrating the completion of renovations to the Amiti\u00e9 Primary School in Oyem, Gabon and explaining the partnership between the United States and Gabon involved in delivering the project is visible on the side of a newly renovated portion of the school March 7, 2024. The school project is part of the Humanitarian Assistance program funded by U.S. Africa Command, with the projects in Gabon being managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District in close partnership with the U.S. Embassy and local partners. (Courtesy photo)
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\n U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineers Maj. Ben Ketchum and Chris De Pooter conduct a warranty inspection of the previously completed new classrooms and classroom renovations at the Mekom Nkodje Primary School on Oyem, Gabon October 22, 2024. The school project is part of the Humanitarian Assistance program funded by U.S. Africa Command, with the projects in Gabon being managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District in close partnership with the U.S. Embassy and local partners. (Courtesy photo)
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\n U.S. Ambassador to Gabon Vernelle Trim FitzPatrick joins local Gabonese partners to cut a ribbon to ceremonially reopen the recently renovated Mekom Nkodje and Amiti\u00e9 primary schools in the community of Oyem in the north of the country September 5, 2024. The school projects are part of the Humanitarian Assistance program funded by U.S. Africa Command, with the projects in Gabon being managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District in close partnership with the U.S. Embassy and local partners. (Courtesy photo)
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\n U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineer Maj. Ben Ketchum conducts a warranty inspection with project partners at the previously completed new classrooms built at the Amiti\u00e9 Primary School in Oyem, Gabon October 22, 2024. The school project is part of the Humanitarian Assistance program funded by U.S. Africa Command, with the projects in Gabon being managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District in close partnership with the U.S. Embassy and local partners. (Courtesy photo)
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OYEM, Gabon — Education is key to creating better futures for individuals, but also better futures for communities more broadly. That\u2019s why the United States is partnering with Gabon on multiple school construction projects in the country, helping to create opportunities for young Gabonese students.<\/p>\n

The school projects are part of the Humanitarian Assistance program funded by U.S. Africa Command, with the projects in Gabon being managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District in close partnership with the U.S. Embassy and local partners.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the U.S. Embassy celebrated the completion of two new schools projects in Oyem, Gabon – expansion and renovation of the Mekom Nkodje and Amiti\u00e9 primary schools.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Ambassador to Gabon Vernelle Trim FitzPatrick cut the ribbon with local officials and project partners in September and highlighted the impact access to education can make and noted her own upbringing in the U.S. Virgin Islands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. government and Department of Defense has provided this community with more than just a building,\u201d she said \u2013 translated from the French originally spoken during the ceremony. \u201cThese new classrooms, office spaces, and much-needed facilities at both the Mekom Nkodje and Amiti\u00e9 primary schools are places where the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and innovators will begin their journeys. From this community, future doctors, teachers, engineers, and perhaps a diplomat or two, will emerge, ready to shape the future of Gabon, Africa, and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the two recently completed renovations in Oyem, crews finished renovations on another school in Mabanda further to the south in Gabon last year.<\/p>\n

Europe District Project Manager Phillip Tran oversees humanitarian assistance projects in Gabon and several other African countries and said he could really see the impact of the facility during his last visit to check the completed project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mabanda school was in excellent condition and the impact of the renovation to the local community was obvious,\u201d Tran said. \u201cClassrooms were decorated with artwork created by the students, teachers were able to use the additional space to provide more focused teaching sessions. The overall feel was that the students enjoyed going to school and take pride in their efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Often renovations at schools through the humanitarian assistance program focus on improvements that turn buildings into safe, stable structures for learning. The Mabanda renovations included much needed roof and drainage improvements. In fact, prior to the renovations, the school had to be evacuated on rainy days which severely impacted learning schedules.<\/p>\n

Back to the north in Oyem, the two recently reopened renovated Mekom Nkodje and Amiti\u00e9 primary schools help relieve overcrowding on existing schools and serve the growing population. The Oyem community continues to grow, including a growing number of young families, and plans are already in the works for the next school project there.<\/p>\n

Europe District plans to award a contract for construction of the new Ndava School in Oyem in 2025, with completion expected in 2026.<\/p>\n

The project calls for construction of a new school facility with two new buildings with three classrooms in each.<\/p>\n

In addition to the classroom buildings, the project will include construction of six new multi-compartment ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines, which are specially designed latrines built in areas where there is no dependable supply of piped water.<\/p>\n

These latrines benefit the larger community as they are designed to reduce the gathering of flies and other disease carrying insects that often gather at restroom sites and are laid out to reduce lingering odors associated with their use.<\/p>\n

Though the impact is large, the projects are comparatively small in budget with all three completed projects and the planned Ndava projects costing an estimated $2.5 million.<\/p>\n

Tran came to Europe District from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District where he supported design reviews for large-scale hydroelectric dam projects, so managing humanitarian assistance projects like the ones in Gabon was a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing from Portland District and one of our Mandatory Centers of Expertise\u2019s, working on the Humanitarian Assistance program has been eye opening, to say the least.\u201d Tran said. \u201cThus far, working with Europe District has been a challenge but also a pleasure. The logistical challenges of working OCONUS (overseas) is compounded by the fact that a lot of the work being performed is in other countries, thus imposing differing laws, regulations, cultural norms, etc. However, the Europe District team that we have executing these efforts are awesome, and our interactions with the various Embassy\u2019s and local communities makes the efforts worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 6 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District Project Engineer Maj. Ben Ketchum, then a captain, and Staff Sgt. Ed Achana with the U.S. Libreville Embassy Office of Security Cooperation pose with local Gabonese school children at the recently renovated Mabanda Primary School February 23, 2023. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321828,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-321826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=321826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321835,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321826\/revisions\/321835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/321828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=321826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=321826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=321826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}