5th PSC Marines Renovate Three Soccer Fields in Balbala

(October 2006)

Twenty Marines volunteered to help the Balbala 5th District Commissioner, Mr. Abdi Issa, renovate three soccer fields for Ramadan tournaments.  Soccer fields in Wahla Daaba, Hayabley, and Cheikh Moussa were completely revamped. 

The Marines received a warm welcome and a lot of help from the community.  During the renovation, the Marines worked side by side with kids, parents, and community leaders.  Together they cleared the fields with a Humvee, collected trash, painted soccer and basketball boundaries, put up soccer nets, and of course, played soccer! 

On Sunday, October 15th, the Marines arrived at the Wahla Daaba sports field at 8:00 in the morning.  There were already kids playing soccer on the field.  The kids immediately helped clear the field.  The mothers of Wahla Daaba were especially enthusiastic.  They jumped right in, put on gloves, and started putting garbage into plastic bags.  After the garbage was cleared away, these dedicated women carried the bags on their back for burning.

Volunteerism spread like wild fire in Sheikh Moussa.  Not only did the community volunteer to level the soccer field, local firemen joined in and cleaned the area behind their fire station to improve the play area for kids.  People were astounded as the Marines drove a Humvee around the field with metal fencing dragging behind to level the field.   The Marines prayed with their fellow volunteers for the grand prayer of Id el Fidr in Sheikh Moussa.

The Public Diplomacy section would like to thank the 5th PSC from Camp Lemonier and the volunteers in Balbala for all of their hard work during Ramadan.  We look forward to working with you again soon!