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Sailors and Marines Provide Humanitarian Relief to Ecuadorian School
Submitted by: PAO USS Portland
Story by:  JO1 Phil Beaufort 

        

 San Lorenzo, ECUADOR -- The coastal mountains lining the Pacific Ocean in Ecuador bear a striking similarity to central and northern California.  As with California, the continental rift shelves quickly and the dark blue waters absorb much of the tropical heat along the coast.   

Driving south from the fishing port of Manta may seem reminiscent of the Pacific Coast Highway, but the impression fades quickly as the road transitions from arid coastal plain to isolated valleys of South American rain forest.

 Situated on a mountainous portion of the coastline sits the small fishing village of San Lorenzo.  Most of the roughly 500 residents are subsistence fishermen and farmers, constructing their homes out of a mixture of bamboo slates, thatch roofs and cinder blocks.  Domestic pigs, chickens and donkeys wander the dirt streets and truck gardens, while villagers complete their daily tasks.

 About five blocks from the beach, and one block from St. Lawrence Catholic Church is the village’s elementary school, Escuela Fiscal Mixta Teodoro Wolf No.72.  With four teachers and close to 200 students, the school relies heavily on the local community for all it’s teaching supplies and building maintenance.

 Which is why the school’s director, Enrique Zenon Rivera was pleased to find out that his school had been chosen for humanitarian assistance from the military.  “You must understand,” said Rivera, “anytime we need help fixing, or building something for the school, we have to go to the parents for it.  The government only pays the salaries of the professors and contributes a small portion for the children’s school meals.”

 What he didn’t know was that the military in question was American. 

“A week ago an ‘Ecuadorian’ Naval officer came to the school and asked what type of help we could use around the school.” Professor Rivera was under the impression his country’s Navy would be sending volunteers to help out.  It wasn’t until USS PORTLAND (LSD-37) arrived in Manta and sent an advance team to the project site that he learned American service members would be conducting all the work.

Close to thirty Sailors and Marine Corps volunteers spent the day making critical electrical repairs and painting the exterior of the entire school.  While the buildings are made of concrete and structurally sound, the school didn’t have the funding or the manpower to take care of those specific problems.

According to First Class Petty Officer Todd McIntire, an electronic warfare specialist from Ceresco, NE, the biggest issue was electrical.  “The electrical circuit breakers really needed replacing.  There were scorch marks from previous electrical flare-ups and a lot of the wiring was obviously done by someone without electrical training.”

For many of the volunteers spending a day making repairs or painting offered its own reward.  “This is the second project I’ve been on since we left on deployment and I’m looking forward to any others the ship has planned,” said Corporal Andrew Hunsicker.  The reason for that is simple.  “The cities we’ve pulled in to have been really nice, but you don’t get a real feel for these countries unless you’re able to get away from the ports and visit these small towns.  It’s like a foreign ship pulling into New York Harbor, yea you’ll see New York, but that’s not the heartland of America.”

After spending the morning making electrical repairs Chief Petty Officer Leonard Watrin, an electronics technician from Riverside, Ca., assisted one of the instructors teaching English.  “We didn’t have very much time and the lesson was very basic, but the kids were very responsive and willing to learn.  To be honest, I would have enjoyed spending the entire day teaching, but it was a rewarding experience and I hope to have similar opportunities in the future.”

Most of the volunteers will get that chance.  USS PORTLAND still has several months left on her South American cruise.  The 600 Sailors and Marines are currently participating in UNITAS 43-02, an annual, multi-national, Naval training exercise.