Seabees helping clean up debris
left after demolition at orphanage
By Franklin Fisher, Taegu
bureau chief
TAEGU, South Korea — A group of Navy Seabees will tote their rakes, safety glasses
and electric jackhammer to an orphanage in southeastern South Korea this weekend.
About a dozen Seabees will do cleanup work Saturday at the Hui Maang Children’s
Home in downtown Chinhae. They’ll clear away a mound of rock, broken concrete and
other debris left over from when the orphanage tore down an old building at the back of
the property.
Founded in 1945 by a Korean Christian minister, the orphanage is home to 64 children
ages 3 to 18, who are either orphans or were abandoned by their parents.
"What they’d like to do is make a playground out of that area but in order to
do that they need to get all the rubble cleaned up," said Navy Chief Petty Officer
Brad Genereux of Seabee’s Detail Chinhae, part of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion
5 on Okinawa.
The Seabees will probably use a dump truck and backhoe to help clear the rubble from a
patch about 40 feet by 80 feet, Genereux said. They’ll also put up a 25-foot-long
wall to replace one that had to be broken through to get access to the building that was
slated for demolition.
It’s not yet known who will construct the playground, or when, Genereux said.
The Navy’s Chinhae detachment has a long-standing relationship with the orphanage,
said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dennis Young, command chaplain for Fleet Activities Chinhae and Naval
Forces Korea.
"The Korean children have just welcomed us with open arms," said Young.
"Even though there may be a terrific language barrier and cultural barrier there at
times, the love we experience out there just seems to surpass all of that."
The Navy has thrown parties for the kids, brought clothes, toys and financial
contributions to the orphanage, along with doing work projects like the one set for
Saturday, Young said.
"The Hui Maang orphanage family really has become their family and has worked
diligently to give them a good quality home life, as much as that’s possible in a
group setting like that," said Young.
Genereux thinks his Seabees will draw real satisfaction from helping the kids.
"They’re gonna get a good feeling from helping out these kids," he said.
"It’s just helping out some people who really could use the help."
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