Humanitarian visit in Kyrgyzstan

Airmen from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing out of Fairchild Air Force Base made a humanitarian visit to the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday, Oct 18, 2010. The children received donated winter coat, balloons and stuffed animals, as well as the visitors' attention. Military servicemen and -women from the Manas Transit Center have been volunteering regularly at schools, orphanages and women's centers in communities near the base. Read more in Thursday's edition of The Spokesman-Review.

Section:Gallery

Wed., Oct. 20, 2010

The Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, is a former Soviet-era elementary school and is in need of extensive repairs. In half of the building, windows are missing, and floors and interior framing, unprotected for decades from the elements, have rotted. There is no indoor plumbing or bathrooms.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
On their way to visit the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, Tech. Sgt. Joe Corder, left, Airman 1st Class Jessica Wilson, and Airman 1st. Class Ashley Villagomez, all deployed with the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, load up donated winter coats from Spokane.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
1st Lt. Jen Lemque, with Fairchild's 92nd Air Refueling Wing, helps place donated stuff animals on each nap bed at the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 18, 2010. Military servicemen and women from the Manas Transit Center have been volunteering regularly at schools, orphanages and women's centers near the base.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Curious children at the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, greet visiting airmen from Fairchild Air Force Base warmly.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
A child from the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, plays on Soviet-era playground equipment.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Tech. Sgt. Joe Corder, deployed to Kyrgyzstan with the 92nd Air Fueling Squadron at Fairchild Air Force Base, makes balloon creations for the children at the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 18, 2010. The children, at first leery of their American visitors, now embrace them when they come to visit.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Tech. Sgt. Trish Newton takes photographs of children in a classroom at the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 18, 2010. Each child in the school received a donated coat that the Fairchild airmen brought from Spokane.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Airman 1st Class Jessica Wilson, on deployment from Fairchild Air Force Base, plays with children from the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan. Volunteers, many of them from Fairchild, have been making regular trips to the rundown school, dropping off desperately needed humanitarian supplies or helping with ongoing refurbishment.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Children from the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, were all smiles after receiving donated winter coats from Fairchild Air Force Base airmen deployed at the Manas Transit Center.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Children from the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, line up outside the school to receive donated winter coats from Fairchild Air Force Base airmen.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
A child holding a balloon watches from a classroom window at the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, as airmen from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing make a humanitarian visit at the school Monday, Oct 18, 2010.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
1st Lt. Mike Capelle with Fairchild's 92nd Air Refueling Wing, helps hand out winter coats to the children of the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
1st Lt. Mike Capelle with Fairchild's 92nd Air refueling Wing, helps hand out donated warm winter coats at the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan. The children at the school, at first leery of their American visitors, now embrace them when they come to visit.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Tech. Sgt. Joe Corder makes balloon creations for children at the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, Oct. 18, 2010.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Before receiving donated winter coats, excited schoolchildren at the Solnyshko preschool in Vasilievka, Kyrgyzstan, were read the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by volunteers from Fairchild's 92nd Air Refueling Wing.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review
Recently, $10,000 in humanitarian aid provided by the American-run Manas Transit Center was used to replace windows in the refurbished portion of the Solnyshko preschool.

Colin Mulvany The Spokesman-Review