In Khatoon al-Yarmook, long one of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the city of Baquba, that meant to its sole symbol of stability and hope -- its elementary school. Al-Tabrea's cement walls and floors hadn't seen a can of paint for years when Saddam fell, and its septic tank had long ceased functioning. Battles last year between U.S. forces and al-Qaida terrorists entrenched in the area added bullet holes to the mix, as well as blown apart walls and stripped wiring to prevent it from being used by terrorists to detonate explosive devices.

Twelve usable classrooms for its 400 children were reduced to three; it's faculty of 25 dwindled to six; school days were changed to two, half-day shifts to accommodate students whose parents were brave enough to let them out of the house.

Today al-Tabrea is the community's pride.

"Rebuilding of this place was a follow-on to Arrowhead Ripper (the military operation to crush al-Qaida)," Army Capt. Philip Mundweil said at the school's official reopening recently. "The place was bombed out, a lot of the classrooms had bullet holes in them and there was no water and electricity.

"Two months ago we decided to rebuild it and get the community involved in the project as well. It's exceeded our expectations."

Mundweil is the headquarters company commander of the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. For two months he helped oversee the rebuilding of al-Tabrea, arranging local contractors and U.S. military funding for the project.

What he thought would take months was finished in less than two. Not only did the contractors and local workers hired work quickly, but volunteers often joined in.

"There were times I'd drive by and see parents with their children helping out," he said. "This school obviously means a lot to them. The whole community was involved."

The project to rebuild al-Tabrea, like many other vital, immediate-need projects, was funded by the U.S. military's Commander Emergency Response Program, or CERP. Under the program unit commanders have discretionary cash available to them to finance special projects in their areas of operation. Laborers on the projects come from the villages and towns in the area the project is located, creating employment and a community stake in the project.

In the case of al-Tabrea, the total cost was just $53,000. Since the province's education department hadn't yet received budgeting from Baghdad authorities, CERP funds paid the total cost.

"We don't want to use U.S. money when there are Iraqi funds available, but sometimes the need (for a project) is just so urgent or the void so big we can't wait," said Diego Etcheto, a member of a U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team made up of experts from the State Department and other agencies.

Etcheto specializes in governance projects and issues, helping the Iraqi government not only tackle infrastructure issues but also to engage in projects that help it gain recognition and loyalty from the country's people.

Etcheto -- headquartered on the military's Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Baquba -- said the al-Tabrea project, although not under his jurisdiction, was an example of what the governance PRTs hope to achieve: there was a special, urgent need to be met, local community members were fully involved in the project, an Iraqi face was put on it, and it created a link between the local community and the provincial and central governments.

When al-Tabrea re-opened on a brisk, sunny morning recently, dozens of its students lined the walkway entrance, waved Iraqi flags and chanted slogans pledging themselves to serving their country. The welcome wasn't for Mundweil or other American soldiers present, but for the provincial director general of education, who officially opened the facility, spoke of more school projects, greater cooperation between government and the people and gave the children fleece jackets.

Never mind that it was the first time the official had visited the school, let alone spoken to its principal. Never mind that it was a U.S. military funded project, or that the jackets, brought to the school in Iraqi army trucks had earlier been aboard U.S. Army vehicles.

"We have to tie in the Iraqi government, that's the trick," said Matt Bouldin, another senior governance expert with a U.S. PRT. "We (the U.S.) built the school, but it's the Iraqi government that will supply the teachers."

The hope, he and Etcheto said, was the new connection between the provincial education department, which is under central government authority and not provincial authority, and the school and community itself.

Mundweil, who along with the U.S. military was publicly thanked my al-Tabrea's principal, said he didn't mind being in the shadows at the re-opening. He'd done his job, and the smiles of the children were enough for him. In fact, he was already looking for a new project to better the lives of the people of Khatoon al-Yarmook.

"They (the children) are very happy because it is very new," said Jamilla Maloud Gallip, the school's headmistress. "We didn't think the school would be rebuilt until the coalition forces came to us."

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