KIRKUK — As part of an ongoing effort to support schools and children here, U.S. Soldiers and Iraqi Police distributed 35 bags of supplies containing pens, pencils, paper and more to the primary school students in the remote rural village of Sarbir, Nov. 12.

While these items might be common to school children in the U.S., they are often hard to come by for children here.

"This is the first time we've received these supplies," explained the school's principal, Neumet Sleman.

"We always have a problem getting stationary supplies like pencils and paper," he explained. "We are very short in supply. When we get this help, it fills this gap."

According to Sgt. 1st Class Raymond Loriaux, the civil affairs team leader with the 414th Civil Affairs Company, who helped organize the supply drop, it is not unusual for Iraqi schools to have a very limited quantity of school supplies, which is the major reason his unit began to focus on school supply deliveries.

Supplies delivered included pens, pencils, paper, erasers, colored pencils, scissors, educational books, coloring books, pencil sharpeners and binders.

"These school supplies will help supplement the children’s’ education," Loriaux said. “For children to succeed in their education, they need the proper equipment, and these school supplies fill those needs.”

"It will make it easier to do my school work," said Halgurd Shakar Waleed, 7, who received a bag of supplies. "I really like them."

Now that the children have a fresh batch of supplies, their principal and teachers can focus on the harder job of providing a good education.

"This makes my job a lot easier, because I don't have to worry about getting supplies for a while," said Sleman. “These children are the future of this village, and through aid like this, we can ensure that they grow up smart, so they can change this place for the better.”

This is the seventh school supply delivery that Loriaux's team has helped coordinate, and according to him, they plan on doing more.

"Education is important for these villages, it helps them become more prosperous and gives the children something to strive for," he said.