By U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Stephen Linch
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs  Print     Share  

BALHO, Djibouti - U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Timothy Scally, Civil Affairs Team 4902 team sergeant, greets students at the Balho School in Balho, Djibouti, January 31, 2012. The school, located in a remote village in the Tadjourah region, was running low on school supplies when the team made the delivery. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Stephen Linch)

BALHO, Djibouti - U.S. Army Sergeant 1st Class Timothy Scally, Civil Affairs Team 4902 team sergeant, passes a box of school supplies to Mohamed Dabaleh, Balho School director, at the Balho School in Balho, Djibouti, January 31, 2012. In partnership with U.S. Agency for International Development, the Djiboutian Ministry of Education and the U.S. Embassy, CAT 4902 delivered the supplies to the school, which educates more than 140 students in Balho, a remote village in the Tadjourah region of Djibouti. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Stephen Linch)

BALHO, Djibouti - U.S. Army Corporal Kwami Koto, Civil Affairs Team 4902 information manager, talks with students at the Balho School in Balho, Djibouti, January 31, 2012. CAT 4902, which is part of Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, partnered with U.S. Agency for International Development, the Djiboutian Ministry of Education and the U.S. Embassy to deliver school supplies to the students. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Stephen Linch)

BALHO, Djibouti, 

Feb 6, 2012 — U.S. Army soldiers with Civil Affairs Team 4902, 490th Civil Affairs Battalion, with Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, partnered with U.S. Agency for International Development, the Djiboutian Ministry of Education and the U.S. Embassy to deliver school supply kits to the Balho Primary School in Balho, Djibouti, January 31, 2012.

The delivery included about 150 kits, each containing a notebook, a pencil and a pen.
"Getting materials like this is very useful and important to continue education for the students," said Mohamed Dabaleh, Balho School director.

The school, which provides education to more than 140 students in Balho, a remote village in the Tadjourah region of Djibouti, was running low on essential school supplies at the time of the delivery.

"A lot of kids dropped out, because they didn't have those basic school needs and the parents couldn't afford them," said U.S. Army Corporal Kwami Koto, Civil Affairs Team 4902 information manager.

The soldiers realized the school's need for supplies after delivering backpacks to the students during a previous visit. During the visit it became obvious that though the students now had new backpacks, they had little or no supplies to put in them, Koto said.

The supplies will help the school continue its important task of educating the children of Balho, Dabaleh said.

"Education is part of life. To live in a society … you have to be educated," said Dabaleh. "It's a tool of life. If the student knows how to read and write, he will be useful to himself, then he will be able to help his parents, then eventually he will be able to help his country."

Koto, a native of the Republic of Togo, West Africa, echoed Dabaleh's sentiment saying, "Children today will be leaders tomorrow."

"If we want a better Africa tomorrow -- (an) Africa that does not rely on foreign aid, (an) Africa that is ready to take on the challenges they face -- you have to educate the children today," Koto said.