CUAJINIQUIL, Costa Rica - Eight hours of team work by the New Mexico National Guard's 1st Platoon, 919th Military Police Company, was all it took to remove one month's worth of jungle growth from the grounds of a school building in Cuajiniquil, Costa Rica, July 20.
Located in the Guanacaste province in the northwestern part of the country, the project was part of the unit's community-involvement day during a recent annual training conducted in the area. The Soldiers used every available piece of equipment they could acquire from the Escuela Nacional de Policía in Murciélago, where the unit was based during its time in Costa Rica. Within a short amount of time, an improvement was clearly visible at the school.
Construction on the unfinished building began about 10 years ago on land that was purchased for the school with a desire by the community to provide a quality public education to its citizens. Funding fell short and the project was never completed. The students are currently educated in a building in the heart of the community less than a mile from the unfinished one. According to Directora Roxana Villalobos Vargas, there are 12 groups comprising a total of 154 students administered to by 31 personnel. The students are educated in one large room with each group separated by a cubicle opening in the middle to a large aisle running down the center.
The community hopes that contractors can begin work on the space as early as late July, and look forward to the end of next year as a completion date.
The school and community provided refreshments during a small break mid-morning for the Soldiers at the current Colegio Liceo de Cuajiniquil. There, the Soldiers were introduced to, and thanked by the staff and students for the work they were doing. After lunch, about 10 professors from the school provided another break of refreshments and homemade snacks at the site of the cleanup. This gave the Soldiers and professors a chance to meet one-on-one and the professors remained on site to see the cleanup progress at day's end.
One of the Soldiers taking part in the school cleanup was Spc. Justin Langlitz, a 26-year old from Flora Vista, New Mexico, who has served in the New Mexico National Guard for 2 years. He felt that this project would lead to greater things for the next generation of community members. "By giving a generation even a basic education," he said, "we endow them with the opportunity to loose the shackles of poverty and pioneer for their children a better tomorrow."
Afterward the cleanup was complete, Presidente de la Junta Administrativa del Colegio Miguel Centeno Ampie thanked the Soldiers for the work they completed on behalf of the school and community. Then Vargas spoke and thanked the Soldiers on behalf of her fellow professors and the school, extending her heartfelt thanks, adding that the Soldiers witnessed how much this new building is needed, having seen the current school. She added that this building will be a step up from the current one and will provide the means to improve the education of the students. She finished by saying that this project would not be possible without everyone doing their part, and the Soldiers of the 919th contributed a big part to getting this project completed.
Second Lt. Marcos Myers, a platoon leader for the Farmington, New Mexico, based 1st Platoon, extended the thanks of the Soldiers to the gathered professors for being allowed to participate in this project for the community. He thanked the Soldiers for their part in the project and reiterated why it was needed so much. "Battles are not always won by sending bullets down range, but rather in assisting communities that are less fortunate and spearheading community service projects that strengthen international relationships." He added, "As National Guard members, it is in our nature to help those in need. The greatest satisfaction we can walk away with is simply the opportunity to do just that."
The decade-old partnership between New Mexico National Guard and Costa Rica affords opportunities for professionals from both areas to share their skills, expertise and time as part of the State Partnership Program. Numerous exchanges occur each year ranging from humanitarian, sharing of law enforcement tactics and first responder medical knowledge as well as small arms repair and maintenance. The military police company is conducting an exchange with the local law enforcement professionals in the region.