Detainees Hone Agricultural, Art Skills
By Sgt. Lindsey Bradford - Multi-National Corps - Iraq UMM QASR — Mention the words "detention facility" or "detainee," and images of single-room cells, bars and cots may come to mind. But what if these words brought to mind vibrant, colorful images splashed across a canvas; wood carvings; and fresh fields of corn and tomatoes?
For detainees at Camp Bucca's Theater Internment Facility (TIF) here, these words may produce images of hope, and help shine a new light on service members in Iraq.
"We are hoping to give detainees a different perspective on Coalition forces," said Staff Sgt. Steven Cotton, 66th Forward Support Company.
Cotton oversees the Bucca Enrichment School, which opened in October 2007 as part of the TIF’s reconciliation center. At any given time, it affords roughly 45 detainees a chance to improve carpentry
"It's a really great program that offers them a creative outlet and the opportunity to learn skills that will be useful to them outside of the camp," Cotton said.
A portion of the program shows detainees how to use the soil for crop rotation.
"We teach them to use the land to turn around and produce green growth," said 66th FSC 1st Sgt. Hector Vasquez.
Vasquez said that on a small scale, trainees could produce enough food to feed their families, but on a larger scale, they would be able to farm and make a profit.
In addition to cultivating crops, detainees carve lumber to form benches, stools, ping-pong tables and soccer goals. Some of the finished pieces are used at military compounds, and others are used by the detainees themselves for recreation purposes.
Cotton and Vasquez say the detainees are eager to learn, and both are firm believers that the enrichment program will help detainees see a different side of Coalition forces.
Cotton said, "If out of 45 guys, one of them decides not to place an IED because they had a good experience here, then we did something right."
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