Marines’ Goal: Gain Trust, Improve Community
The Marines' "gifts for grades" incentive encourages Iraqi schoolchildren
to earn good grades.
By U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Roe F. Seigle
1st Marine Division

BARWANA, Iraq, June 28, 2006 — As U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Brett Bartels stood in front of a military vehicle handing out hundreds of stuffed animals and soccer balls on a road in Barwana, his goal was simple - make sure each child went home with a smile on his face.

Such humanitarian operations are the reason many of the local residents are starting to trust Marines and why insurgents are quickly losing their foothold in the city of 40,000 nestled along the Euphrates River, just southeast of Haditha, the 23-year-old native of Canoga, Park, Calif., said.
"People here trust us. With that trust we are hoping to build the basic programs needed to properly govern a city."

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Brett Bartels

"When we arrived in Barwana in March, the insurgents would threaten and intimidate anyone who cooperated with Marines," said Bartel, a team leader with 3rd Civil Affairs Group, a Marine unit with the primary mission of assisting Iraqi communities with improving local infrastructures and governance.

"The insurgents do not have that power anymore and they are desperate to get it back," said Bartel. "It is evident in their futile attacks that rarely produce the results they want."

As the insurgency is quelled, Marines here are focusing on developing and implementing programs that will one day be turned over to Iraqi government workers in Barwana after coalition forces withdraw from the city, said Bartels.

Many male residents have expressed an interest in becoming police officers and are willing to attend a police training camp in Baghdad, said U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Jose Soto, an assistant team leader with a civil affairs group.

A police force, coupled with an Army capable of independent operations, is necessary in order to provide security to residents without the assistance of coalition forces, said Soto.

"It is just a matter of time before people will start seeing some of the residents who are currently unemployed wearing a police uniform and protecting them from insurgents," said Soto. "The insurgency is crumbling in this city and we are winning the fight."

When the Marines arrived in Barwana more than three months ago, residents would not communicate with them out of fear of retribution from insurgents. Now, residents are beginning to welcome Marines and Iraqi soldiers in broad daylight - a sure sign of a weakening insurgency, said Soto.

Now the Marines are reaching out to the younger generation of Iraqis with an incentive for them to focus on their education through a program known as "gifts for good grades."

The program allows children to come to the base with their report cards and, depending on the quality of their grades, they are rewarded with toys and candy.

Soto came up with the program earlier this month when a child asked him for a soccer ball as he made an identification card for his parents.

"I asked him if he had a copy of his report card and he ran home and got it," said Soto. "The child made good grades in school so I gave him a soccer ball."

The child spread the word about the gift to other neighborhood children. Soon after, many more children showed outside the forward operating base and showed their report cards to Soto in the hopes of receiving a gift.

"I would give each child at least some candy," said Soto. "The soccer balls were the most sought after item, so I awarded that to the children with the highest grades. Others would get candy or stuffed animals."

Students began asking their teachers for copies of their report cards from previous grading periods after hearing about the program, said Soto.

"Our main goal with this program is to encourage the youth to excel in their education and lead more meaningful lives instead of having to turn to the insurgency for a source of income," said Soto, after returning from a three-hour patrol in Barwana where he and Marines from Company L, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment handed out more than two hundred toys to local children.

"People here trust us," said Bartels. "With that trust we are hoping to build the basic programs needed to properly govern a city."

Ellie