Construction of a Primary School
Project location: Congo, Democratic Republic, Lodja
Project start date: October 2009 -
Project end date: September 2012
Project number: 2009-56
Beneficiary: FIDESCO
During this first reporting period, the main activities implemented are related with the construction of the two buildings of the "School Pierre Goursat".
1. Report on the project progress
In Lodja, the delegation of the construction of the school buildings to one entrepreneur has not been possible, because none presented the necessary competences and experience. Therefore, the director of the project has taken this responsibility. This implies that he buys all the construction materials and selects the different artisans to realize the diverse works (elevation of the walls, carpentry, etc.) on the construction site; he also coordinates the development of the construction and establishes the necessary planning.
The coordinator of the project coordinates all staff involved in the project and monitors the progress of the project; during the period covered by this report, he has been also supporting the director of the project in the coordination of the construction.
The construction works of the two buildings started in February 2010, with a little ceremony involving the local community. The fundaments, the walls and the roofs have been set up before the end of April. Then the rendering works for the walls has been done, as well as the fabrication of the windows and doors.
The construction of the latrines started in May and the fabrication of the school furniture will start in June.
The project team faces some difficulties on the construction site:
1. Lack of running water (no water pipes do reach Lodja):
As the masons need considerable quantities of water to do their work, the parish members and the children go and collect water at the source that is some kilometers far from the village.
The fabrication of the construction bricks also requires water: most of the time, these are fabricated directly at the sources of water and transported to the construction site: many dwellers do contribute to this transport, partly by lorry, partly by foot or bicycle, depending on the existence or not of practicable roads.
2. Several problems were caused by strong rains that affected the foundations and the walls that were elevated first: the workers had to re-build some of these walls.
Nonetheless, despite of these difficulties, the commitment of the local team has permitted that no considerable delay needs to be reported so far. The team has a great capacity of motivation of the local population: these contribute regularly to the construction of the school buildings.
2. Divergences and explanations
The delay in the construction (begin in February 2010 instead of September 2009) is due to bad weather conditions as well as to bad local infrastructure conditions that makes transportation and handling of construction materials very arduous. Nonetheless, this delay won´t affect the general construction of the two buildings of the school, as the commitment of the local team as well as of the local population in giving a help compensates for the initial delay.
SECOND ACTIVITY REPORT ( Timeline: July- November 2010)
During this second reporting period, the main activities implemented are related with the construction of two buildings of the "School Pierre Goursat", the nursery school and the administration building.
General comments
The nursery school and the administration building are finished today: The nursery school has two classes, and the administration building has an office for the director, a meeting room and a library.
To address the problem of lack of water mentioned in the first report, a well has been sunk on the school site: the proximity of water has considerably facilitated the elaboration of the adobe bricks as well as of the clay needed to fix these bricks - the elevation of the walls has thus been much faster as during the first months of the project.
Additionally, no bad weather disrupted the course of the construction work (the rain season was over) and the dry season favoured the fast development of buildings.
Development of the construction work
As the adobe bricks do not support rains, the construction works of both buildings has started with the construction of the respective roofs, this is to say the establishment of the roof structures with their metal sheets. After this, excavation work for the foundation has been conducted and the walls elevated.
About 20 days were needed for the walls to dry, and then the roof could be brought down and fixed to the walls with iron strips: this way, the roof resists strong wings and bad weather.
The next step was the rendering of all the walls, except the space foreseen for the black boards - those are made with special cement and directly pasted on the wall. Two weeks were required to let the rendering dry and after this painting works could start: two different paints have been used: kaolin, a local paint, has been used for the indoors walls, and latex paint reinforced with cement has been used for outdoors walls and will ensure more resistance to winds and rains.
After this, the floors of both buildings were set up and an external cement belt was laid down at the level of the foundations to reinforce the structure of the walls and their protection against bad weather.
At the end of November, the last doors and windows of the administration building were put up.
Production of the school furniture
As the carpenters in charge of the roof structure revealed to be very efficient and produce highly qualitative work, they have been charged of producing the school furniture: banks and tables for the nursery school. This work is very satisfactory as well.
Conclusion
The favorable development of the construction work is due to the commitment of the local team, the professionalism of the workers as well as good weather conditions. This permitted to catch up the delay of the beginning of the project: now two new buildings complete the two previous ones where classes started very successfully this autumn.
The "School Pierre Goursat" attracts many pupils with the high quality of the buildings and the furniture: 115 children started the nursery school this autumn (in three classes). Also the new pedagogical strategy implemented by the teaching team is very appreciated by the parents: instead of repeating what the teachers say (as it is usual in DRC), the teaching methods emphasize on the reflexion of the pupils.
THIRD ACTIVITY REPORT ( Timeline: December 2010- July 2011)
General comments
During this third reporting period, two new buildings of the "School Pierre Goursat" have been constructed. These two new buildings (two classrooms each) complement the school compound.
Development of the construction work
The well sunk on the school site in the previous reporting period has enormously facilitated the construction of the two new buildings: Great quantity of water is needed for adobe because all the bricks are made by hand, and also clay is needed to fix these bricks. Before the well, the workers had to go to the river to fetch water and now the local team save huge amount of time. Therefore, after the raining season, the construction of the buildings could be conducted easily.
The construction work was conducted the same way as for the first buildings: first, the roof structures (metal sheets) are established to protect the adobe bricks from the rain. Once the roofs have been set up, the workers excavate the foundations and elevate the walls.
After they have dried, the interior and exterior walls of the four classrooms have been rendered and the floors have been paved.
Production of the school furniture
The carpenters fabricated further pieces of furniture: 25 additional desks for the pupils and all the windows of the new buildings.
Conclusion
The favorable development of the construction work is due to the commitment of the local team, the professionalism of the workers as well as good weather conditions. This permitted to catch up the delay of the beginning of the project: now two new buildings complete the two previous ones where classes started very successfully this autumn.
The "School Pierre Goursat" has very good reputation in Lodja - it is often mentioned because of the high quality of the buildings and teaching.
FOURTH ACTIVITY REPORT ( Timeline: July 2011 - October 2011)
This final report covers all the results achieved in Lodja: The "Pierre Goursat nursary and primary school" is now finished and 240 pupils go to class in good conditions.
Since February 2010, 6 classes and an administrative building have been constructed and equipped with pieces of furniture for each of the pupils.
Results achieved by the project
In rural areas of Democratic Republic of Congo, schools offer very poor education to the children. In DRC, classical methods rely on repetition on high voice of the teachers´ words. Additionally, most of the time classes are overcrowded (sometimes up to 150 pupils per class!), teachers are not properly trained and administrators of school are unable to manage efficiently. As a result, schools open and close, drop-out rates are high, parents do not believe in the value of education, children learn very little and these shortcomings hinder their development as adults.
Today, in the "Pierre Goursat nursary and primary school" in Lodja, 240 pupils benefit from a good quality of teaching and a children friendly atmosphere that aims at favouring integral development, considering them as single persons with individual talents and skills. Another characteristic of this school is that all teaching is provided in French.
Nursery school: 3 classes welcome 30 pupils each, which permits individual caring of the children. The teaching methods stress on learning through workshops, exercises, handicraft and games.
Primary school: 3 classes with 50 children each favour discipline and teaching mainly through exercises on notebooks and blackboard. The teachers have developed simple but effective teaching materials with the support of a French volunteer that favours the development of the children creativity and solution-oriented thinking. Tests that measure the level of understanding of the pupils are conducted regularly.
Repetition teaching methods have not been abandoned completely but they have been reduced to the strict necessary. Sport activities are proposed every day for the nursary pupils and once a week for the primary pupils, and the teachers develop group games during the breaks for all: movement, fair-play, team spirit and creativity are fostered this way.
Conclusion
Thanks to the high commitment of the local team as well as of the local population, the professionalism of the workers, as well as the generous funding of the Nando Peretti Foundation, the "Pierre Goursat nursary and primary school" of Lodja welcomes now 200 pupils in very good conditions.
