Community Corner
Riverdale Marine Builds School in Afghanistan
Sgt. Josephine Kennedy, a U.S. Marine, recently returned home after working to build a high school in Sangin.
As students in Prince George's County recently began a new school year along with children across the nation, in Afghanistan the cycle of beginning a new school year isn't as normal.
Schools in Afghanistan are scarce, according to an article published by the Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System (DVIDS), through the U.S. Department of Defense.
"Only 34 percent of the population is literate, while only 28 percent of children are enrolled in secondary school, and only 12 percent actually attend," the DVIDS article reads.
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Riverdale Resident Sgt. Josephine Kennedy, the Marine Civil Affairs Group noncommissioned officer-in-charge, spent months building Sangin High School in the town of Sangin within the province of Helmand, Afghanistan, along with others in the 1st battilion, 5th Marine Regimen
“We are here to help the people,” Kennedy said in the DVIDS article. “We are here to keep the insurgents out and give [the residents] things they don’t already have that will help better their lives.”
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According to the DVIDS article, 85 teachers are currently registered within the Sangin District, could be considered to fill the teaching positions. The 8-classroom schools would serve 200 students.
Kennedy recently returned home, according to a spokeswoman with U.S. Department of Defense.
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