The Movement On Own Feet - Centipede

Monday, October 30, 2006 will be unforgettable for 25 children of the Bosnian village Grk. On this day, a new school was handed over; a school that everybody needed. Not only children and local inhabitants took part in the ceremony, but also the inhabitants of the city Bosanski Brod. Everybody welcomed cordially Mrs. Bela, representatives of the Czech Army Gen.Maj. Emil Pupis and Col. Jan Gireth, and the representatives of the headquarter EUFOR, headed by Col. Antonio Augusto
The process of building the school in this town, which was influenced by the war horrors, was very essential. The children had to travel 25 kilometres to school and back. They had to travel during the countryside that will still remind the war for a long time. Our soldiers from the troop of Lt.Col. Vojtech Prygl, who serve in the operation EUFOR, noticed that. They discussed it with Mrs. Bela and decided to help the children together.
The Centipede sent 2000,- USD that the children earned by selling the Christmas cards. The soldiers than delivered the old units and a part of the dismantled roof from the housing facility of the Eagle Base. And they started to work. Warant officers Radomil Sítek and Miroslav Dlabaè and their colleagues Jiri Stroupek, Ondrej Podivinsky and many others worked hard for almost two weeks before the little school was finished. Local children helped a lot. They were cleaning the cutoffs, fetching the tools and material – they were always at the right place when they were needed. According to the soldiers the children were very handy and thanks to this the school grew fast.

The Centipede children did not help only by sending the money. At the end of the holidays when they knew the project would start, Centipede announced the program “Schoolbags of Happiness”. The children wanted to send to their 25 friends in Grk new schoolbags with school equipment. Immediately, the schools Kladska – Praha, Zubri, Elementary school of Lt. Lom in Pribor, Elementary school U Skolek in Litomysl, Elementary school Heyrovskeho in Brno, Elementary school Bilina – Aleska str., 15th Elementary school in Plzen, Elementary school in Pardubice – Polabiny, Elementary school Drahotuse and psychiatric hospital for children in Oparany took part in this event.  

“It is enough for a man to come here and see all the ruins and hundreds of destroyed houses,” described his experience Gen. Pupis and added: “And moreover, if you imagine that the children must get up at 4 a.m. to get to the closest school… then this school must be a little miracle for them. It will ease their lives, it can motivate them. It is a real step into future because the education will help to get over their horrible memories, hate and ethnic disputes.”