By Charles Coldman | Director/CEO
Our redevelopment of our eighth partner school at Mkamenyi Primary continues despite the Covid pandemic crisis, albeit the project has been disrupted by various measures that have been put in place to prevent the spread of the virus.
We had been hoping that the first phase buildings (including new administrative facilities) would be completed by now - in time for the scheduled start of Term II at the beginning of May - but delays in procuring materials as a result of social distancing and lockdown measures mean that this work is still on-going, although the term has not yet started in any case as schools remain closed as a preventative measure.
The vast majority of construction work is complete though and we hope to have the buildings useable by the end of June at the very latest, although final finishing including painting and glazing of windows will happen later.
We have adjusted our project plan since our last update in January. Following discussions with the school administration pre-Covid, we have prioritised the construction of new staff toilets to replace the existing pit-latrine facilities which are full and close to overflowing. These new toilets are also nearing completion and will be ready for use by the time that schools do eventually reopen.
Looking ahead, there is some uncertainty about when we will be able to begin work on the next phases of work given the measures in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 including a ban on community gatherings which we rely on for the collection of building aggregates (such as ballast and hardcore) that we need for foundations and for making bricks and blocks on-site.
Once we are in a position to begin work, we will be focusing on the construction of further additional classrooms rather than the new kitchen and dining hall as we had originally planned to and as reported in our January update. We feel that this additional classroom space will be of more benefit to the schools and its pupils in the short-term than a new kitchen and dining hall.
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