After a construction period of 8-9 months, the time has come: the largest and most dilapidated building of the “Amuro-Mgbom Primary and Secondary School” will be completed shortly. The construction work will end in the course of April and then the students can move into the “new” building. A big milestone for the school, but also for us.
Dismantling work began on July 16, 2021. The soil conditions posed a particular challenge. We found that the reason the building broke and fell apart was the problematic soil conditions. The entire subsoil is not stable because it is clay soil.
For this reason, we erected stronger pillars with more concrete reinforcement than planned and connected the pillars with concrete. Along the roof we used concrete parapets instead of wood as this is much more durable. In some cases, double sustaining walls were used and the intermediate areas were filled with concrete.
The stone blocks for the renovation were made manually because the material is better and cheaper. With these stones, new walls were erected or parts of the wall that were still functional were added.
After completion of the masonry work in November 2021, work began on the roof truss and then the roof was covered with zinc sheet.
During the interior work, cable pipes were laid, distributors and electrical connections were installed. Although there is currently no electricity at the school, all preparations have been made. The ceiling panels were then installed as an intermediate ceiling to reduce the outside heat.
As a result, the workers installed the window grilles and doors. The walls are currently being plastered inside and out, floor tiles are being laid and everything is being painted.
All activities will be completed by the end of April. The entire renovation will cost almost 45,000 USD. There is a small increase in cost of around 5,000 USD for the improved construction measures mentioned above, but the building is now in first class condition.
In the next report we will show what the school building looks like in operation. The children, teachers and we are really looking forward to it.
Once the U-Block work is completed we will start building the sanitary facilities.
Thank you all for your outstanding support, which makes this progress possible.
In July 2021 we started renovating the 4300 sqft. “U-Block”. It will be the largest single construction project in the entire ten-building school complex. We expect total costs of approx. USD 42,000 for building renovation, roof, doors and windows, plastering, painting and tiling the floors.
What has been achieved so far?
The masonry work required for the basic renovation of the building has now been almost completely done, such as
What about the costs?
We will have some additional costs of around USD 3,200 for various good reasons for the masonry work:
What’s coming up soon?
The new roof is then erected on the relevant parts of the building; windows and doors are produced in parallel. The walls are then plastered. If all goes well, the work should be completed in the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2022.
The completion of this school building will be a significant relief for the high number of students as we can provide several additional classrooms. Today, due to lack of space, up to 300 students from several classes are taught in one classroom.
Thank you so much for your support.You can make it happen.
Please watch a 10 minute video what we accomplished so far. See LINK below.
Links:
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:
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:
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.
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