Reserve, Active Duty couple complete African service projects

  • Published
  • By Capt. Ashley Conner
  • 477th Fighter Group Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON --  Taking a trip during a summer vacation to visit the town where you parents grew up is not all that unusual.

For Maj. Jonathan Gration, an active duty pilot assigned to the 90th Fighter Squadron, and Capt. Julie Gration, a Reservist assigned to the 477th Fighter Group, the trip took them across the world and gave them an opportunity to give back to those who are less fortunate.

"Jonathan had been talking about going back to Africa since I met him. His family had taken a trip to Africa in 2005 but he couldn't go because he was in F-22 upgrade training," said Captain Gration.

Both sets of Major Grations' grandparents were missionaries in Africa and Major Gration lived in Kenya as a small child while his father served as a U.S. Air Force instructor pilot and weapons officer with the Kenya Air Force.

"Based on a series of events and with the support of our leadership, we were provided with a long enough window of opportunity to spend a month in Africa," said Captain Gration.

Thus began the planning and coordination with the Darfur Peace and Development Organization, a non-governmental organization established to assist Darfurians rebuild their country.
DPDO has several ongoing programs to assist the rebuilding effort to include the Gration's service project of choice, the Solar Cooker Program.

"In Darfur, the women living in internally displaced persons camps are responsible for cooking and collecting firewood. The women must travel outside of the IDP camps where they are at a high risk of attacks and sexual abuse." said Major Gration.

The Solar Cookers are made of silver metallic cardboard that converts the sun's rays into heat which is reflected to a metal pot. A polypropylene bag is secured around the pot which creates an insulating barrier of air, allowing the temperature to reach 250 degrees.

"The Solar Cookers cut the requirement for firewood by two-thirds," said Major Gration. "It keeps the women from having to search for firewood and endangering their lives. It also preserves Darfur's precious trees; Sudan currently ranks fourth in the world for deforestation."

After raising $3,700, largely through the support of the 3rd Operations and 477th Fighter Groups, they purchased 125 Solar Cookers. In July Major Gration traveled to Sudan where his father, Scott Gration, U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan presented the Solar Cookers to women living in the Abu Shouk IDP camp.

"The women of the camp came out to celebrate getting their Solar Cookers," said Major Gration. "Their outpouring of gratitude was amazing."

Four days later Major Gration met his wife in Nakuru, Kenya to begin work at Hope for Life, an orphanage for children who have lost their parents to AIDS.

The couple, along with Major Gration's mother, Judy, began renovations on a large classroom at the orphanage using paint and supplies they purchased and brought from the United States.

Mornings were spent painting and preparing the classroom and after a homemade African lunch the Grations would spend time playing with the children of the orphanage.

"This was an experience of a lifetime. There are so many things you read and see on television, but to be immersed in the culture adds a whole other dimension." said Captain Gration.

Prior to returning to the Alaska, the Grations visited Kibera, Nairobi, where the second largest slum in Africa is located.

"There are 1.5 million people living in two square miles," said Major Gration. "In Kibera, about 1300 people have to share a single toilet.

"The timing of the visit (the last day in Kenya) and the deplorable conditions made this one of my most vivid memories," said Captain Gration.

The Grations said they came away from this trip with a renewed spirit of thankfulness.

"We definitely feel fortunate. All across the world there are people who do not even have the basic necessities --food, shelter, or potable water," said the major. "It makes you reevaluate and wonder what you can do to continue to help, even if it is only in a small way--I think it makes an impact."