School Construction
School Construction
Until the start of our school project in early 2011, the village of Mushapo did not have their own school. To spare the children their daily long walk to neighboring villages and in order that more children can get a good education, ADH made the realization of a school project in Mushapo its goal. The school project is meant to last: Several school buildings with bright spacious classrooms of solid, durable materials should guarantee a permanent school operation no matter what the weather conditions. In addition, important new jobs will be created in the rural area by building schools and the operation thereof.
Mar
2014
New plans for the next brick building
We are planning on how the next two brick buildings can be built most efficiently. We decide on two long buildings, each with 4 classrooms. The new buildings will, together with the existing brick building on our property, form a U-shape. Right away new bricks are manufactured for this project. The men dig clay from the new pit and the women take them to the warehouse, where the clay is pressed. As soon as the bricks are pressed and have dried, they are burned.
Feb
2014
Preparations for the construction in Mushapo
After his arrival in the Congo, Jos first spends a month in Kinshasa in order to make important preparations. He visits our friends and supporters and gathers new materials and tools for Mushapo. On the way there, in Tshikapa, he buys food for the next month. He is accompanied to Mushapo by a team from "Denys", so they can see our progress on the project for themselves. With their truck, the "Denys" Team also transported 2000 liters of drinking water, cement, and diesel for the generator. The generator needed some repairs, a new battery and other parts that are not so easy to find out there. A not functional generator means no light at night, no charging of batteries, and no telephone or internet communication for some time.
Jan
2014
Temporary school buildings damaged
This year's rainy season brings extremely strong storms with it. Some walls of the temporary school buildings (and other buildings) are destroyed. We can undo the damage again, but it means extra work. At least it urges us to proceed rapidly with the construction of other solid school buildings.
Dec
2013
Our end-of-the-year interim conclusion
In 2013, we started both south and north of Mushapo with the construction of school buildings. The first 20 x 4 meters large brick building in the north has been completed and is being used for school operations for two classes. The second 20 x 6 meters large building south of Mushapo is almost finished, but the completion is somewhat delayed. This building has two large classrooms for teaching, plus a staff room and a room for the headmaster. Beginning next year we will finish this brick building.
Dec
2013
New approach needed for the development of a temporary building
For the conversion of a temporary building into a permanent one - a sturdy building with brick walls - we re-calculate to save materials and so minimize the costs. It is mainly due to the high transportation costs of materials, such as cement and iron, that they are here in the interior so much more expensive than, for example, in the capital. We get advice from the Denys team in Tshikapa and from Robert in Mushapo, who is very familiar with the construction of houses under the local conditions. We consider whether we actually should make this conversion.
Nov
2013
The growing number of students who need accommodation
To provide the unexpected increase in the number of pupils with a proper education and be placed in classrooms, we divide our temporary school buildings each in 3 classrooms (previously 2 rooms each). The buildings are large enough. In addition, we will repair another old farm house and change it provisionally into our fourth school building. In total there are now 10 classrooms for daily classes. However, this is only a temporary solution, because the simple buildings made of wood and clay must constantly be repaired.
Oct
2013
How do we respond to the continuing rise in student numbers?
Demand for classes at our school grew rapidly and we needed to respond to the ever-growing number of students and thus increasing class sizes. We had actually planned for fewer students, but also do not want to deny children from neighboring villages education at our school. Because the goal is a proper education, we should reduce the class sizes. For this we need to hire more teachers. Besides these unexpected extra costs there is also the space problem that we have to solve as soon as possible.
Sep
2013
Construction work is progressing well
We visit the site of our second brick building. The construction of this building has seen great progress in recent months. The building is expected to be finished in a few months including the inside. Congratulations Jean, Robert and Laurent, representatives of the entire construction team for the so far well-done work.
