The School
St Peter’s & Paul’s Primary School was in state of disrepair and the enrolment over the past five years had been steadily been decreasing from 1005 students in 2006 to only 777 students enrolling in 2010. However the school gained a new, passionate and committed head teacher, Angelica Mugisa who implemented a five year strategic plan. . The school has 21 classrooms and substantial land and thus presented itself as a good opportunity to become an excellent learning and teaching environment and a role model to other educational facilities.
Many of the classrooms had holes in the floors and walls, damaged window shutters and leaky roofs. Five classrooms in particular had become sufficiently dilapidated as to require substantial work to function again. An earthquake had made unstable much of the brickwork, there was no windows and sections of the walls were missing entirely after an NGO had started installing fire escapes but didn't finish the job.
The Project
OBAAT decided to refurbish these 5 classrooms and turn them into dormitories for the 47 boarders. This would enable the buildings where the boarders were currently living to go back to being classrooms and help reduce high class numbers.
On top of this, the the remainder of the school's classrooms were renovated and substantial groundworks were performed. During planning visits, flooding problems had been evident and the pooling of waters had created a dangerous breeding ground for mosquitoes - which for the boarders meant a high risk of malaria.
Works also included:
- 180m of dangerous pathways around the school were re-laid
- Holes in the floors and walls were levelled in 16 classrooms, making all teaching spaces safe and weatherproof
- Replacement of unsafe open asbestos and rubble floored wash facilities. The existing pit latrine was cleaned and painted
- The broken walls, floors and steps of the school's assembly and play area were fixed and the space is now functional again
- The admin block was renovated. Holes in the walls and floors were filled and a partition wall fitted in the head teachers office to allow much needed privacy
- Substantial land reshaping was performed to allow water to effectively run away from the classrooms and off the schools grounds. Retaining walls and large flower beds have been erected to hold back the earth and create seating areas for the students. Considerable planting was also done all around the school of fruit trees, flowering plants, Eucalyptus and other trees and shrubs.
- Broken, loose and misshapen window frames were fixed and made functional and fitted with more than 300 panes of glass.
The Training Project
Work was delivered with the assistance of 24 construction trainees from St Joseph’s technical college - offering a valuable, much needed opportunity for practical experience.
The trainees worked alongside 16 UK construction workers for the duration of the project. Two members of teaching staff from St Joseph’s were also on site to oversee the techniques their construction trainees were using and aiding the UK construction workers with local building practices which may work more effectively in the climate. As well as the opportunity to learn and practice their construction skills the trainees got valuable experience of working in teams, working in the community, speaking and becoming confident to talk in front of groups outside their comfort zone, time management and looking after tools.
Thanks to Calico for providing the UK construction workers and funding the Project.
Cost: £16,800
Result: Improved education for 777 children
Reduced threat of malaria and other mosquito borne diseases
24 local construction apprentices were trained by our UK team
Completed November 2010
Before & During
After
Partners
