Buffiniraq

This has been another very busy week. Kent leaves tomorrow for re-deployment back to states. He'll be working in Cal before heading off to Russia for more Corps work there. I'll miss his conscientious effort to help these Iraqi engineers do our job of constructing facilities around Diyala Province. I have "inherited" from Kent 10 Primary Health Care facilities, 6 electrical substations, 1 transmission station, 4 roads (largest between Baghdad and Kirkuk), a water works project for Baqubah and a huge prison facility outside Baghdad. All these projects will be turned over to the Iraqi govenment upon completion and these Iraqi engineers have to be able to complete them properly. Therein lies the challenge: to teach/train them to "see" and "do" all that that entails. Quite an experience. The pics are general in nature for obvious reasons. Just know that there's an awful lot of good things goin on throughout the country that most Iraqis really appreciate as you might imagine. When we supply a water tank for drinking clean water, turn lights and electricity back on even for 10 to 12 hours during the hottest part of the day, fix a school so kids can return to learning, connect the sewer lines so they can use a toilet, etc etc...it affects an awful lot of lives. You can only imagine what a difference these things are making in their lives. Just know that in spite of the heartaches these daily attacks have caused, these folks are still determined to come out and risk their lives daily to learn how to continue helping their brethren after we're gone. It's very humbling indeed and we all can be very proud of what our soldiers and engineers are doing here...