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FAHAMA, Iraq (January 30, 2008) - As the teal dump truck made
its way down the muddy street, local citizens appeared from behind
the gates guarding their houses. They walked to the truck, their
hands full of an empty burden.
The truck represented an opportunity these people had not seen
in a while. For five months, the people in the village had gone
without propane, and they were optimistic their empty tanks would
return to them full, in the hope that they would be able to cook
inside for a change that night.
About 50 households in the villages of Fahama and Gumayrah will
be able to cook using propane this month after soldiers with the
4th Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, Multinational
Division Baghdad, escorted some of the villagers to the neighboring
town of Boob Al Sham to exchange their empty tanks for full ones
Jan. 27.
The help came a little more than two weeks after Silver Lion
soldiers with the 3rd BCT's Headquarters and Headquarters Company,
1st Combined Arms Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, and Civil Affairs
Team 2, Company B, 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, 360th Civil
Affairs Brigade, met with leaders from the Fahama region to discuss
essential-service needs in the area, said Army Capt. Enardo
Collazo, a native of Salinas, Puerto Rico, who serves as commander
of HHC, 1-68th AR.
At the meeting, leaders brought up the problem many in the
region were having obtaining propane. Boob Al Sham is
geographically close by, but the people in Fahama and Gumayrah have
reservations about traveling there because it has been a volatile
location in the past. With an armored escort, those reservations
were put to the side on this day.
Each household is given vouchers by the Iraqi government for
three propane tanks per month; a total of 150 tanks were taken to
the propane facility and exchanged, said Army 1st Lt. Nick
Piergallini, 1st Platoon leader, Company D, 1-68th AR, currently
attached to HHC, 1-68th AR.
"On average, three or four families might live in one Iraqi
household, so between 150 and 200 families were supplied with
propane," the Easton, Pa., native added.
In an environment filled with sand and mud, cooking is difficult
without propane. People in the villages have been burning wood they
chop themselves to heat their food. "Propane is more convenient and
cleaner for them to use," Collazo said. "While they can cook inside
with propane, they must cook outside when burning wood."
Not only does the aid provided by the soldiers help the local
population, it also is a way for the soldiers to reassure the
people of their support.
"What we did today made an immediate impact on the villages," he
said. "It helped to strengthen the local trust of coalition
forces."
Sheik Emad Abdul-Settar Muhammad, the senior sheik for the
village of Fahama, helped to coordinate the tank collection and
rode in the dump truck escorted by the Silver Lions.
The assistance provided by the Americans was much needed and
appreciated, Emad said.
The effort was an immediate response to the issue of refilling
the villagers' propane tanks; the Silver Lions are trying to help
negotiate a long-term solution to the problem.
"It's too expensive to build a (propane) factory in Fahama,"
Collazo said. "The solution I have developed is to find a local
contractor who is more comfortable with traveling to Boob Al Sham
to deliver and pick up the propane tanks."
In the meantime, families who received propane will not have to
bear the cold, muddy weather outside to eat a hot meal for a
while.
Seeing the dump truck driving back through the street in
Gumayrah a few hours later, villagers of all sorts ran out to pick
up their tanks. This time, the burden they carried back with them
was full.
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