Story by BU3 Alexa Trafton
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Construction Electrician 2nd Class Daniella Acevedo, from Crystal Lake, Illinois, and Construction Electrician 2nd Class Eduardo Blanco, from Atlanta, Georgia, snake wire to the electrical distribution panel for the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 Walung Health Clinic project on Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia on June 15. (U.S. Navy photo by Utilitiesman Constructionman Matthew Konopka
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain (June 22, 2017) Seabees deployed to the Federated States of Micronesia build the first health clinic in a remote village in the municipal of Walung on the island of Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia, June 22, 2017.
The health clinic is a top priority for the Kosraean government because it will improve living conditions for the island s residents. The clinic will serve as a local health care facility and provider of clean drinking water for the 600 local villagers.
The impact this clinic will make on these villages is huge. Right now it takes them up to an hour and a half to get medical care in an emergency, and if boats aren t available, it is a much longer wait, said Utilitiesman 2nd Class Christopher Boughton, from Clayton, North Carolina. This clinic will give them medical very close to home.
The Seabees attached to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 Detachment Micronesia began working on the 792 square foot five room health clinic in February for the remote area.
Boughton leads a crew of nine Sailors and four local construction apprentices in support of the Kosrean Health Department project to provide the five room clinic. The project consists of a concrete slab, a construction masonry unit wall, wooden trusses, metal roof, utilities, water catchment system, prefabricated plastic septic tank and a leach field.
Due to the remote location, the crew can only access the project site by boat. Regardless of all environmental obstacles, they have continued to make progress.
The Sailors have demonstrated an amazing Can Do attitude overcoming the challenges of construction in one of the most remote areas of the world to give the 600 villagers of Walung a medical clinic, said Officer in Charge Lt. Michael Yeary, from Cumming, Georgia. This project of goodwill between the U.S. and Micronesia allows us to leave a lasting positive legacy on the partnership between the two governments.