Sailors, Marines Install Water Pump at Honduran School

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jeffery Tilghman Williams, High Speed Vessel Swift (HSV 2) Public Affairs

SAN LORENZO, Honduras (NNS) — Sailors assigned to Detail Bravo of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 28 and 2nd Marine Logistics Group (MLG) replaced a broken hand water pump with an electric powered pump at Escuela Eneas Avarado in San Lorenzo, Honduras, March 14, in support of Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2011.

The service members installed the electric pump, new draw piping and faucets at the well, which provides water to the school and the surrounding community.

The original water pump broke months ago, which left students and the local community depending on the city to provide water on a sporadic basis.

“This is one of the more critical quality of life enhancements our team has participated in during this mission,” said Lt. Rama Mutyala, officer-in-charge of NMCB 28 Detachment Bravo. “Hundreds of people will benefit from this new pump.”

“For some time now, our water usage has been restricted and limited due to our well not functioning. Words can’t express what this pump means to these children and the people of this community,” said Maria de Jesus Giron, a third grade teacher at the school.

This installation follows a week-long construction subject matter expert exchange with NMCB 28, 2nd MLG and the Honduran military cross training during the construction of a Southeast Asia (SEA) hut.

During the engagement, the Seabees and Marines worked side-by-side with Honduran army engineers performing electrical rewiring, plumbing pipe replacement and constructing the SEA hut.

“This is just an addition to some of the work we completed last week at the school. We saw an opportunity to help, and took action,” said Mutyala. “At the end of the day, it’s about people helping people, and as Seabees, we commit ourselves to doing just that.”

“This is a good day for the people of San Lorenzo. We appreciate the U.S. Sailors coming here and doing these things to help us and make us smile,” said Bacilia Castillo, parent of a second grader at Escuela Eneas Avarado.

SPS 11 is an annual deployment of U.S. ships to the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility (AOR) in the Caribbean and Latin America. The mission’s primary goal is information sharing with navies, coast guards and civilian services throughout the region.

Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command (COMUSNAVSO) is the naval component command for U.S. Southern Command and is responsible for all naval personnel and assets in the AOR.

COMUSNAVSO conducts a variety of missions in support of the U.S. Maritime Strategy, including theater security cooperation, relationship building, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, community relations and counter-illicit trafficking operations.

For more news from COMUSNAVSO/U.S. 4th Fleet, visit www.facebook.com/NAVSOUS4THFLT or www.public.navy.mil/comusnavso-c4f.
For more news from SPS 2011, visit www.facebook.com/southernpartnershipstation or www.navy.mil/local/sps.

For more news from U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command & U.S. 4th Fleet, visit www.navy.mil/local/cusns/.