Blog Posts tagged with "humanitarian assistance"
A Doorway to Education and Opportunities in Romania
The City of Campia Turzii, population 26,377, is located in Transylvania, the central region of Romania and hosts a Romanian Air Base where joint US/Romanian exercises are held every year. Campia Turzii, like many Eastern European Cities, has struggled to fund badly needed school upgrades to include some buildings that have not been renovated in 40+ years. Recently, EUCOM partnered with the City and the County Education Department to renovate $380K worth of doors, flooring, windows, interior walls, electrical fixtures and construct playground cover for Pinocchio, Lumea Prichindeilor, and Armonia elementary schools. 
The town already welcomes the U.S. Air Force during their training engagements, but thanks to EUCOM’s investment, there is an even greater mutual respect and understanding that to be partners we must both invest in the future. You can see this in the thank you letter we received from the County Education Department:
Lt Col Amy McCall
Civic Engagement Branch Chief
Headquarters European Command
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Smart Civic Engagement in Latvia
On Monday, Judy Garber, U.S. Ambassador to Latvia; members of the U.S. Embassy in Riga and EUCOM; the Latvian Ministry of Interior (State Fire and Rescue Service) and National Guard members; and local government officials broke ground on a EUCOM Humanitarian Assistance project modernizing eight fire and rescue stations in Latvia.
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School donation continues long-standing relationship with Poland
Just last week, I visited the Krakow School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, which was heavily damaged in the spring floods of 2010, to deliver furniture and pianos donated by the U.S. Government.
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Humanitarian Assistance for Latvian Fire and Rescue
Since fall 2008 US Embassy's Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC Latvia) and State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia (SFRS) have identified and submitted 10 Civic Engagement (Humanitarian Assistance) projects for renovations of fire stations all over Latvia.
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Education and water improvements for the children of Bosnia and Herzegovina
U.S. European Command provided $450,000, which allowed the Office of Defense Cooperation to renovate the Drvar school.
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A small investment pays big dividends in Albania
EUCOM invested $170,000 to upgrade a kindergarten in Erseke, Albania.
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First Day of School – Ukrainian Style
I had the privilege of participating in the Ochakiv School #2 ribbon cutting.
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Blue skies in Montana (Bulgaria)
Our Office of Defense Cooperation team left rainy and gloomy Sofia for a trip that had us traveling 2000 km in 5 days. We were scheduled to travel throughout northern Bulgaria to inspect 15 potential Humanitarian Assistance projects. We were a little worried because we will also had a ribbon cutting to one of our larger HA projects: a kindergarten renovation in the town of Montana.
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Taking Care of the Basics: Humanitarian Civic Assistance in Croatia
The town of Slunj, Croatia, was not far away and Diana and I were traveling there by car to participate in the Croatian President Ivo Josipovic’s visit to Slunj Primary School. For months prior, Diana had worked closely with the US and Croatian military representatives, as well as with the civilian authorities in the town of Slunj, to ensure the availability of the necessary construction materials for a renovation project at the Slunj Primary School. Today, she too could celebrate. The joint Croatian-US military exercise Immediate Response 2011 had just finished and President Josipovic was visiting the Croatian military base where the exercise had taken place. He was there to thank the Croatian and US military members who had participated in the exercise and to view several joint military construction projects that had taken place concurrently with the exercise.
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Useful work in Ukraine
June 6 is a special day, but probably not for the reasons normally associated with the U.S. military in Europe. I was in Odessa, Ukraine, on the Black Sea coast. The weather was gorgeous, and I was with Ambassador Tefft and his wife, to celebrate the successful completion of facility improvements at Lastoshka Tuberculosis Children's Rehabilition Center.
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Proof in Meaningful Projects in Romania
Normally, I spend most of my time behind a desk fighting the administrative battles while my director handles the travel. Recently, I had the opportunity and the distinct honor to cut ribbons at three EUCOM Humanitarian Assistance (HA) projects in the Tulcea (Danube Delta) region of Romania. We held opening ceremonies for a renovated kindergarten, clinic, and a special needs orphanage; all unique projects, but the appreciation of the recipients and dedication of the directors, local government officials, and the people were the same.
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My Dream Come True
Thank you for all the good you have done for the current, and all subsequent generations who will live and enjoy this dorm, thank you so much ... When I lived here it was both a paradise, and a calvary for me, but, I think, life here made me what I am now…..a young, but mature person ready for life ahead of me.
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HA Works When They Want it as Much as We Do!
What makes a Humanitarian Assistance (HA) project a success? There are many factors that impact the process; it is no longer just a triangular relationship between the project scope, available funding and allocated time.
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Logisticians Do Work Headlines Don't Capture
There are often times where you see headlines of stories but they don’t explain some of the behind the scenes work that goes on with major events. I wanted to share some of the efforts that occurred at U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and specifically the Logistics Directorate that explains our support to Israel during their recent wildfire disaster. I think it serves as a great example of our commitment to our partner nations.
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To Communicate “Thank you”
In the future we expect to do more regional projects for Albania and the Balkans by investing in Disaster Preparedness and Telemedicine, but I’m sure the occasional school renovations will remain on our schedule. There really is no better grass roots opportunity for us to reach out and impact the next generation.
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The Face of Security – Can It Be Found In a School Opening?
For much of our Army careers, defining security involved calculating the size of the military force that could be moved to and sustained in a particular area of the world on short notice; the larger the force equating to proportionally more security. However, attendance at two elementary school rededications in Vares and Fojnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), lead us to believe that perhaps this definition is far too simple.
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EUCOM supports Azerbaijan Emphasis on Education
September 15 is the first day of school in Azerbaijan and I was fortunate enough to attend the opening ceremony for Barda school #2 located about 400 KM west of the capital Baku. It was a great honor to join the Deputy Minister of Education, Cabinet Minister for Internally Displaces Persons & Refugees, Regional Mayor and US Embassy Charge D'Affaires, Adam Sterling, in opening our 16th new or renovated school in Azerbaijan.School children flowers in hand, excited about their brand new school.
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First day of school excitement in Albania!
Have you been to the beautiful mountainsides of Northern Albania? It was my first time to this land called Shqipëria, and as it is known by its inhabitants the "Land of the Mountain Eagle," hence the two-headed eagle on their uniquely distinguished national flag.
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International Response to National Disasters
As we learn time and again, Mother Nature demands our respect. Although the core competency of militaries is not humanitarian work, we are sometimes called upon to help respond to natural disasters, providing life-saving support to affected communities.
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Crowdsourcing: Building Relationships and Helping People
In the last three years, social media revolutionized the way we communicate with each other across the globe. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and thousands of other social networking sites allow people with shared interests to form communities on the web regardless of location, background and beliefs. EVERYONE can participate.
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The New Year with European Command and Our Partner Nations
Happy Twenty Ten from U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany!
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Health Center Ribbon Cuttings in Bulgaria
As Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation in Bulgaria, I recently attended two ribbon cutting ceremonies in the towns of Zherevna and Kermen to celebrate the completion of renovations for their health centers funded by the DoD Humanitarian Assistance Office.
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Donation to the Chambarak School in Armenia
Riding down the bumpy dirt road with a semi–truck trailing behind, a smile appears on my face. We approach several cows standing in the middle of the road that are in no hurry, of course. I honk the horn twice and they finally begin to amble on their way, except for one. He slowly raises his head, looks directly at me, and I swear I hear him say, “What’s your hurry?” I get the hint, sit back and relax as he wags his tail and slowly moseys along.
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Our Veterans, Our Defenders of Freedom
Happy Veterans Day to all of those who are serving and who have served! Maj. Kristi Beckman is the Chief of Social Media for European Command Public Affairs
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Project Handclasps helps sustain HA efforts in EUCOM
On Oct. 22, I had the most rewarding day since being assigned as the Bilateral Affairs Officer to the U.S. Embassy, Vilnius, Lithuania. That day, I was in charge of organizing the delivery of hygiene and medical material donated as part of Project Handclasp, the Navy’s space available program for shipping humanitarian donations.
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Getting Stronger Together in Bulgaria
The EUCOM project in Paderevo consists of renovating the Vela Peeva Kindergarten which is being undertaken in conjunction with the deployment of Task Force East near the training area of Novo Selo. This project is unique because it is a combined effort between the U.S. Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3 (NMCB3), U.S. Army engineers from the 15th Engineering Battalion, and Bulgarian military engineers. This HCA project provided a unique opportunity to cross train techniques cross DoD services, work with new materials, and most importantly, working collaboratively together in an international context. A U.S. Navy Seabee from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion THREE lays tile in the Vela Peeva Elementary school in Padarevo, Bulgaria.
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Generation to Generation: A story from Albania
We traveled to Albania Sept. 14, 2009 to witness the grand opening of the newly renovated Kucove (Ku-cho-va) Elementary School. Along with the U.S. European Command’s Office of Defense Cooperation and U.S. Charge d’Affairs, we made our way to Kucove and after a 2 ½ hour drive arrived to the sight of 200 young students waving U.S. and Albanian flags in the yard of their newly renovated school. As we toured the grounds and met our Albanian hosts we immediately became aware of the deep admiration Albanians feel for the United States. More than admiration- to use their words- “love” for the United States and all Americans.
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Building partner capacity through medical engagement
In response to changes in the 2006 Quadrenial Defense Review and the U.S. European Command’s new Strategy for Active Security, engagement has moved to Building Partner Capacity. Medical engagement is an excellent venue to execute this mandate.
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Stories to tell – A visit to Serbia
I have a story to tell of my visits to several U.S. European Command humanitarian assistance projects in the Republic of Serbia.
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Making Friends in Croatia
I just returned to Patch Barracks, Germany from Knin, Croatia where I had the unique opportunity to spend time with a few of the Airmen deployed from the 435th Construction and Training Squadron (CTS), stationed at Ramstein AB, Germany. They function as a rapidly deployable construction unit with capabilities such as: carpentry, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, pavement and road construction. After seeing them in action, I know that the previous list is just a portion of their skills.
Comments: 1
Hello, I'm from Romania and I am glad to see that our country is visited by people so interesanti.Sper be so always. PS. I love your blog. All the best!