Fun times at Flamingo Park - Airman's World

Airman, Nov, 2002 by Robert Couse-Baker

BISHKEK-MANAS, Kyrgyzstan -- Each week, Norgazi waits. He and 38 other kids at a children's home wait for American service members to visit.

"We wait for them every week, because we have a very good time together, and they help us," the 11-yearold said.

In September, for example, a dozen airmen and Marines from the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at a nearby air base gave the kids a day of play at Flamingo Park, a children's amusement park in the Bishkek suburbs.

"We wanted to do something special for them before the start of the school year," Master Sgt. Curt Mooney said.

Mooney and other troops have been visiting the school, called Detskii Dom, in Voenno Antonovsky for more than three months.

The children's home is part of the country's foster care system. It's the safety net for children whose parents cannot care for them, and for children without parents. The school houses 39 kids during the summer, and 130 during the school year.

The park visit, coordinated by Master Sgt. David Brinkley, Brinkley, was the first field trip the Americans hosted.

"It was a lot of work, but it gave me great joy to do this for the kids," Brinkley said.

The wing's top noncommissioned officers paid for the bus and park admission. They received a lot of help from Chaplain (Lt. Col.) George Brubaker and Chaplain (Capt.) James Armstrong, who were the points of contact for the trip.

At Flamingo Park, kids and service members rode the rides and filled up on tasty food.

"Usually we go to the school and play with them, but this was really fun," Mooney said.

For Senior Airman Ami Schmid, a services troop, the trip was her eighth visit with the children. She said they're a smart bunch.

"We sing songs together," she said. "They know all the American [pop] music."

For Norgazi and his friends, it was all fun.

"This was the best day of all," he said.

The school has few funds, so each visit by the Americans is a boon, Coalition service members have donated shoes, books and winter clothes. Perhaps more important is the bond troops have created with the children, Brinkley said.

Tech. Sgt. Darren Elbert looks forward to each visit with the kids.

"It's about seeing the kids really having a good time." he said. Then pausing, he added, "and you get to be a kid, too."