GC Seabees build school for Wayuu

RIOHACHA, Colombia - Seabees, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) ONE of Gulfport, Miss., along with their Colombian army counterparts, completed construction of a new school for the indigenous Wayuu people in the rural community of Riohacha, Colombia on Aug.29, as part of Southern Partnership Station (SPS) 2019. The new construction features solar panels, ceiling fans, and multiple classrooms furnished with chairs and desks. The school was officially turned over to the Wayuu people during a ceremony on Aug. 30. “We don’t just build buildings and water wells, or provide water. We provide hope; hope for people that are in need,” said Cmdr. Michael Meno, commanding officer of NMCB 1. “The preschool children, the youngest ones, will benefit the most for a long time,” said Los Remedios 2 School Principal Lisan Duarte. NMCB 1 is homeported on the Gulf Coast (GC) within Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport. SPS 19 consists of fly-away deployments of adaptive force packages to Barbados, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru to conduct training and subject matter expert exchanges to improve capacity in medical, dive operations and engineering. Navy Public Affairs Support Element East 09/02/19  https://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=110757