School renovation for 1,700 children in Nigeria

After completing all construction activities on the well and the water supply on the school area for the students, teachers and the kitchen, we concentrated on the planning and financing of the renovation of the first dilapidated school building (the so called U-Block) with approx. 4,000 square feet of floor space.

The condition of the building is very bad, and a lot of construction work is required. The implementation of the measures began on July 10, 2021, and will proceed as follows:

• Purchase of the essential materials for the first phase: sand, stones, cement, iron rods, wood for the construction of the doors and windows.
• Selection of the construction company and workers and start of construction.
• Dismantling of the roof, digging the foundation, demolishing all dilapidated walls, laying of the new foundation, pouring the columns and pillars, connecting the foundation with suspended concrete beams, as the nature of the soil causes cracks in the walls. Most of the concreting and masonry work will then be done.
• At the same time, the doors and windows will be built.
• The second phase mainly consists of the work on the roof and the ceilings. Before plastering, the wiring of the electrical system follows. There is currently no electricity, but preparations are already being made for future use. The last step is tiling the floors, installing doors and windows, painting and completing the electrical installations.

Wind and rain damaged the roof of another building, which was repaired at short notice. In the first phase of the renovation, the roof and the dilapidated walls will be dismantled. A solid foundation is then created so that the walls do not burst again. The foundation is the big problem of all buildings because of the soft soil and the simple old buildings.

The soil texture at the school is very poor for construction work. The soil is not stable. When it rains, the soil increases in volume and expands. During the dry season it contracts and shrinks. The instability of the terrain causes the walls of the buildings in the school to crack.

The site engineer now concretes the pillars first and then creates concrete beams from the ground level that will chain the pillars together. On these concrete beams, the blocks are raised up to the lintel level and then another beam is created at roof level. The structure is supported on the floor beams and are filled with laterite down to the foundation. The hardened laterite is a typical construction material in this area.

The costs for the renovation of the U-block amount to approx. USD 40,000. Completion of the work is planned for the end of 2021.

Imagine: There is a school in your town / city that was founded in 1953. After almost 70 years, 700 students are attending Primary School and 1,000 students are going to the Secondary School. Imagine further, that there is no water and no toilets at this school, neither for girls nor for boys, nor for the teachers. This was the case at the Primary and Secondary School in Amuro / Mgbom, district Afikpo North, in Ebony State, Nigeria besides many other infrastructural problems in December 2020.

This was our starting point.

As the first construction measure, now we built a water supply for the entire school complex with 1,700 students, 80 teachers and assistants. The children can get drinking water at any time. The people from the school kitchen also benefits from it. This is a big step forward and creates an enormous relief for everybody.

After preparation and drilling began at the end of December, we were able to hand over the water supply system on February 26 to the school management as part of a small ceremony. We drilled a borehole 100 meters deep and the water will be pumped into a 4,000-liter water tank. As we cannot use a central power supply, we have to operate the pump with a small generator. The water is of very good drinking quality. The children, teachers and the kitchen staff are happy with the water supply. There are in total 10 taps available on the school ground, five for primary and five for secondary school.

Ultimately, the availability of water is of great importance for our planned renovation work, as otherwise we would have to buy the water at a high price.

The beginning has been made. The next phase will be the renovation of a dilapidated school building and the installation of sanitary facilities. Missing toilets are a major challenge for the large number of students and teachers. We hope that these measures can be implemented in 2021 and 2022. But all depends on generating enough funds for it.

Without you, nothing can be changed. Thank you very much for your support. 

PS: Plastic cups were only used first day. Children will get and use their own bottles every day.

The aim of our new project in Nigeria is to renovate the entire Amuro / Mgbom school complex for around 1,700 students. This will be a multi-year project as the total cost of the renovation will be around USD 200,000 and the financing can only be done in several stages.

As the project kick-off, a lot of materials for the school were collected in the Munich region in Germany and sent in a container by ship to Lagos and from there by truck to the Afikpo region. Afikpo is a very rural and poor region in Nigeria, so many things that we take for granted are not available there. Or you can only get it as cheap goods from China with a short durability, which then ends up in the garbage.

Transporting the container by ship was problem-free. However, there were significant delays in the port of Lagos, among other things due to the unrest and protests in Nigeria. With patience and money, however, this problem was also solved, and the container arrived at the school in mid-December. The children were absolutely thrilled, something like this has never happened before. A lot of necessary material could also be made available for the school itself. Here is a brief overview of the essential goods:

• Approx. 1,100 school bags (with 1,200 kg)
• Approx. 2,500 pieces of kitchen utensils weighing 1,500 kg (pots, pans, dishes, glasses and much more)
• Approx. 18,000 pieces of school supplies weighing approx. 3,000 kg (pencil cases, pens, books, exercise books, paper and much more)
• 600 toys
• 200 soccer balls and 200 other balls
• Several mattresses for the children to rest during the lunch break
• In addition, nearly 9,000 kg of clothing were distributed to the teachers and needy school families.
• Approx. 300 kg of tools as well as screws and nails.
• 12 laptops

Several wheelchairs and crutches could be donated to the hospital.

However, it is not our approach to send goods to Nigeria on a regular basis, as the costs are significant. We want to put the ten school buildings in a condition that the children can receive reasonable lessons. First, it is a matter of boring a well, for which the first preparatory activities have started, and we hope that this well and thus a water supply can be completed in a reasonable timeframe. Water is also a prerequisite so that we can even start with the construction work. Otherwise, we must buy the water at high cost. In principle, however, at the Amuro/Mgbom school there is a lack of infrastructure, as there is no electricity, no water and no sanitary equipment at the school. We therefore also need generators, for example to be able to operate the laptops at all.

The next report explains the general conditions and the costs of renovation planning. But at least the beginning has been made, but it also increases the hope of the people in the villages.