Airmen help Djiboutians learn English

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Greg Bluethmann
  • Det. 4, Air Force News Agency
DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti (AFNEWS) --  Airmen are building good working relationships with Djiboutians by teaching English to them six nights per week in downtown Djibouti City.

"The English discussion group is basically a way for us to interact with the Africans and be able to establish a community relations program," said Senior Master Sgt. Sylvester Shaw, the English discussion group coordinator for Camp Lemonier, Djibouti.

"We ... are able to provide the manpower through volunteers to come out and listen to the African students as they practice their English," he said.

The group is staffed by volunteer Airmen, who after long hours on the job at the deployed location sacrifice personal time to make the program a success.

"It's always worth it at the end of the day," said Tech. Sgt. Homer Solis, a group volunteer. "You do your day-to-day job, but when you come out here and you experience something you really can't get a feel for from somebody else and you actually see people changing -- wanting to change and doing something for a change -- then you know your doing something worth it."

The U.S. Embassy in Djibouti started the English discussion group program, but the embassy relies heavily on the volunteers from Camp Lemonier to support.

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