Now comes the fun part

Here student's in Kamtaran Primary look at their new school supplies we just delivered. A special thanks to all those who have donated school supplies to Operation Crayon. This makes all the hard work worth it.

Sartek Primary School

This is a picture of student's from Sartek Primary School and myself outside their school. Interesting place with minefields located just behind the school. Our team and the IBP gave away the last of the school supplies we brought to students and teachers here.

School Photo at Kamtaran Primary

These students and teachers are from Kamtaran Primary School.

6th Grade Class at Kamtaran Primary

These students are in the sixth grade at Kamtaran Primary School. They have received school supplies and toothpaste kits from IBP personnel. Our teams goal is to give the IBP we work with a positive image in the communities they serve.

Kamtaran Primary School

Distributed school supplies, first aid kits, toothpaste kits, sports equipment, and shoes to the village of Kamtaran. These students wore uniforms to school.

Where do all these kids come from?

I can't remember the village name here but the kids mobbed us when my team showed up. The kids come out of the woodwork here, one minute there is a few, the next minute we are completely surrounded.

Mine Warning

Here is a drawing in Sartek Primary School warning the students of the danger of mines which are located a few feet behind the school in a minefield.

Happy Students at Sartek

Here the children of Sartek Primary get new school supplies and toothbrush kits being handed by Iraqi Border Police.

Sartek Primary

These are the children from Sartek Primary, the last school on our route where my team handed out the last of our school supplies.

What are they doing?

What are these goats after I wonder...are they eating our tires or something?

Seeking Shade

These baby goats at the village of Kamtaran seek shade under our humvee as we hand out shoes and school supplies. Our team and the IBP handed out over 520 pairs of childrens shoes and socks this month in various villages throughout our assigned district.

Childrens Drawing

This is a drawing a student made at Sartek Primary. In the US a teacher would probably be worried at such a drawing, here in Iraq drawings like this are the norm. The students draw of objects they see everyday around their village.

Yellow Scorpion

This is a picture of a yellow scorpion we found on the marksmanship range.

Shooting an AK-47

Here I get an opportunity to shoot an AK-47 on the range.

Weapons Training

In this picture our team is giving instruction to the IBP staff on conducting a weapons range to improve the IBP marksmanship abilities.

Standing at the border

This is a picture along the Iran/Iraq border. An Iranian border fort is in the background behind us. I am pictured on the left.

Destroyed Iraqi Village

This is a picture of a Kurdish village destroyed by Saddams regime after the Iran/Iraq war. He turned his army on the Kurdish people of Iraq in an effort to destroy them completely and take control Northern Iraq. His army destroyed over 4,000 villages and cities in Northern Iraq. There are over 182,000 Kurds still missing from his arabization campaign 1988-1991 in the North. The majority of the Kurdish people fled to Turkey and Iran to avoid being killed by the regime. Saddam used chemical weapons on the Kurdish town of Hallabja on March 16, 1988 killing over 5,000 Iraqi Kurds where they stood and injuring over 10,000 more. It is an atrcoity of ethnic cleansing by Saddam's regime that most people outside of Iraq are unfortunately ignorant to. But the people here will never forget the atrocities committed against them.

Food Vendors Truck

This is a common vehicle in Iraq. This Iraqi is a vendor selling soda and snacks. We had lunch consisting of MRE's, soda, and snack bread.

Port of Entry

This is a port of entry along the border with Iran. Trade still continues between the two countries.

View from the border

This is a picture of me obtaining the range and azimuth to an Iranian Border Fort along the Iraqi border.

AK-47 Training

This is a picture of me with an AK-47 that I was able to shoot on the range. It is good training to learn of other weapon systems and know their capabilities.

A successful class on marksmanship

In this picture the IBP show off their targets from the 25 meter range and celebrate success with one another.

Weapons Training

Here the IBP are conducting weapons training on a 25M range our team setup and is supervising. The idea is to train IBP leadership in order to conduct marksmanship ranges on their own.

New Shoes for Students at Lali Khan

Here we have students at Lali Khan Primary getting new shoes and socks tried on by Iraqi Border Police. Our team had the students come out four at a time to retain some control of the situation, whereas outside the gate it was mass chaos as parent's started grabbing any size of shoe they could for their kids. Fortunately the student's were much better disciplined than the adults outside the gate.

Student's opening up their new school supplies

Here the student's of Peshewa Primary start opening their packages to view the contents to aid in their education. The student's also receive toothpaste kits as part of our teams hygiene project.