Repair a Madagascar School to Educate 281 Children

Much of the recent progress at Mahatalaky has been extremely positive indeed, though working in such a challenging environment inevitably unexpected issues emerge. The tireless work of our Malagasy Construction Team and International volunteers has seen the cracked veranda repaired, the partition and main walls strengthened and the concrete structure getting a new lick of paint. None of this work is merely cosmetic though; it is essential to making sure the building does not fall into disrepair. Over recent years, Madagascar has borne the brunt of increasingly unpredictable weather that has damaged buildings such as those at Mahatalaky. Taking every step to make sure the building is resilient reflects SEED Madagascar’s ethos of ensuring our interventions are sustainable and that Mahatalaky’s children have a safe and comfortable place to learn for years to come.

Unfortunately, the project has experienced some unforeseen delays that mean we have not yet been unable to erect the roof as we had planned. Fort Dauphin, the capital of the isolated Anosy region, is suffering a `cement drought`, meaning that we have been unable to purchase the cement we need to secure the roof. Difficulties like this epitomise the challenges of working in such an isolated region, that we just would never expect to experience in a developing country. To give an indication of the isolation of Mahatalaky, it can take up to seven hours to drive from Fort Dauphin to Mahatalaky, although it is a distance of just 33 kilometres away. We have been informed that cement will be arriving in Fort Dauphin this month, at which point we will put the roof on the building and refurnish the classrooms.

Sue, our International Head of Volunteering, headed to Mahatalaky with our new Project Development Officer, Laure, and our Head of Construction, Lomba for a monitoring visit at the school in the first week of the new school year. Laure and Sue were introduced to the teachers, who thanked them for their ongoing support of the work at the school. Making sure that our team stays in contact with developments on the ground contributes to strong relationships with communities and beneficiaries – an essential ingredient particularly when responding to complex challenges and emerging needs.

Having been supporting our projects from the London office, it was crucial that Sue was able to see the work with her own eyes. Sue was able to see children from the fourth and fifth years that are studying in the new building completed by SEED at the beginning of 2015. She was impressed by the original stone masonry on the building that SEED has been renovating, and pleased that the project was giving the building a new lease of life. Sue was also struck by the enthusiasm and appetite for learning that the children showed.

1. Experience of Kate working in Mahatalaky as an International Volunteer (Pioneer)

“I am a macro social work student focusing on the link between environmental and community development projects. After learning about SEED Madagascar’s Pioneer Programme I thought it would be a great opportunity to work with an experienced organization on some fantastic projects, such as the Mahatalaky refurbishment.

I really like working with the community members. Being able to talk to and share experiences with local people has been one of the best parts of my time here. I didn’t really come with any expectations but I was surprised by how involved I have been in all the projects.

A couple of weeks after we had left Mahatalaky, we spent an hour back at the town for a quick lunch stop. It surprised me how connected I still felt to the community, playing with the local children as well as greeting all the local people we had worked with and become close to during our two week stay. I have learned a lot about different methods of community engagement and styles of project development.

I have so many memories from my time in Mahatalaky but to name a few: mixing cement, playing with the local children, mixing cement, playing cards with my fellow volunteers, mixing cement, climbing up a mountain in the dark to watch the sunrise, and mixing cement.”

2. Progress so far…

We’ve made some great progress on school building one, repairing the foundations and building enough desk-benches for 20 children to study on in comfort. Of course, there have been one or two unexpected challenges for the expert team to deal with.

Due to some bad weather making stone breaking too dangerous, the plans for the foundations had to be adapted. Our international volunteers (pioneers) spent their first week making breeze blocks to form the foundations of the school. This involved the strenuous work of mixing cement with shovels and casting the bricks in a mould. While the pioneers got their hands dirty with the breeze blocks, the SEED construction team began building the foundations around the school. The construction team had three skilled workers, and five unskilled workers. The unskilled workers were able to use this opportunity to begin learning new construction skills, yet another way that this project is helping to support the impoverished community of Mahatalaky.

The old foundations have been kept in place, allowing the construction team to build a supporting structure around the building without any need for a concrete base. In order to achieve the required additional strength; a ditch was dug, four breeze blocks placed inside (one on top of the other) and a layer of concrete situated on top with reinforcing wire running through it. To ensure the materials bind sufficiently cement posts are on each corner and half way along each wall, with wire mesh running both horizontally and vertically through them, effectively acting like a belt around the school’s foundations.

The construction team and pioneers are now working on repairing the floor of the veranda – which had cracks in it - by smoothing it over with cement. One challenge – as you can see from the photos, is the transportation of the heavy cement up onto the veranda using wooden ramps. Once the veranda is finished, work will begin on the inside of the building, and finally be finished off with the painting of the walls and veranda at the end.

Tasks still required to be completed on school building one includes:

• Repairing the cracked veranda
• Rebuilding the roof supports (current ones are not safe)
• Repairing the holes in the roof
• Filling in cracks in the partition wall
• Filling in cracks in the main school structure
• Painting the school.

Construction on school building two has not started yet. However, the weeds and plants that were growing inside the structure have been cleared. With the building being in particularly bad condition and having entire walls and structures missing, there will be a great deal more work required to repair school building two, than there is for school building one. Construction will start when school building one has been finished.

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