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FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq (January 7, 2008) - The Jan.
3 opening of a medical clinic in Maderiyah, Iraq, brought health
care access to a community that had not seen a doctor since
Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003.
For months, Maderiyah was an insurgent stronghold that left
local people with little hope and much fear, one resident said. The
work of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers and concerned local citizens has
led to a safer community with much less extremist influence, he
said.
"This is great. I can't explain what this means to me. I'm so
happy," said Saadin San Ali, a member of the Maderiyah concerned
citizens group. "We are all proud to have this clinic and we are
proud to be from this community."
Until the clinic opened, no medical treatment facility was
easily accessible to Maderiyah residents. The civil affairs team
for 3rd Infantry Division's 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th
Brigade Combat Team, planned and worked for months to open the
clinic. Army Capt. Kenneth Guglielmina, the civil affairs team
leader, said residents' spirits have risen with the
improvements.
"The people get a positive outlook when they see change,"
Guglielmina said.
The clinic will be open twice a week. The primary caregiver will
be a certified medical assistant who lives in Thuar, outside
Maderiyah. The caregiver also will be on call for emergencies.
Army Maj. David Underwood, commander of 3rd Infantry Division's
Battery B, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, 2nd Brigade Combat
Team, said the residents' ability to begin a concerned citizens
program, work with U.S. soldiers and set aside secular differences
to work with the Iraqi army, has helped to rebuild the
infrastructure in Maderiyah. Other improvements include the
completion of a newly-paved main road that at one time was littered
with improvised explosive devices. A well also was dug to supply
fresh water to the clinic.
"Clean drinking water is in the top three things Iraqis want and
need, and it fosters good public health," said Capt. Trista
Mustaine, 2nd BCT's embedded provincial reconstruction team public
health officer. "We said the clinic has to have water, but the
whole village needs water, so we decided to build a big well."
Mustaine said the successful building of the Maderiyah clinic,
including using local contractors and digging a working well, will
be the model for other Iraqi communities in need of health
care.
The Maderiyah residents hope the clinic grows to include more
staff and longer hours. Meanwhile, they are happy to have hope for
the future. "Today was the first time I've smiled in five years,"
said Sheikh Aamash Kadhuma, a local citizens group commander in the
Al Rasheed region.
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