In Serekolia, work on the school is going ahead at a pace, thanks not least to the support of the local population who understand the importance of having a bigger school for their children.
Sandu, the village regent is really enthusiastic about the project: “I am really happy about the new school and how much it will help our children who will be able to enjoy a good education. We don’t have anything but we have contributed with the materials we do have, like sand and stones, and by helping with the work”.
With the project entitled A school for all, “Morifindugu Junior Secondary School” is being expanded and equipped with essential facilities like drinking water, toilets, chairs and desks, so as to provide access to education and improve the quality of learning.
Thanks to the new school many teenage girls in Serekolia will no longer have to leave their families. They will be able to stay with them and study close to home, protected and cared for by their community.
In recent months, the foundations for the new part of the school were laid once the land for the new facilities was acquired, and building work began immediately afterwards and is still going on. Excavation and construction work for the new latrines also began during this time.
With the rainy season approaching, from May to November, some work has been brought forward, is ongoing and will be completed later. For example, work to build the desks and furniture for the school began earlier than planned because it would have been difficult to find and transport the wood during the rainy season.
Certain materials, for the roof and ceiling or some doors and windows, have already been purchased and transported to Serekolia in anticipation of the deterioration of the roads that occurs during the wet season.
It is thanks to the work of the community, in fact, that the project is speeding ahead: the materials and their transport, for example, were the first essential steps for the construction of the new classrooms, toilets and water well.
Supporting the construction of a school, a well and latrines, as envisaged in the project, is essential to accompany the communities towards autonomous development. It means offering the possibility of change to the next generations as well, building a bridge between the present and the future.
“We are very happy. This is something that will really help our children and all future generations. Even if we are too old to go to school, our children will really appreciate this help as will their children. We also appreciate the help for the water well because our community really needed it. We have suffered a lot in recent years over water.
We are very happy because we are receiving help here on earth and even when we are in heaven, what is happening will continue to bring smiles to our faces as it will continue to help future generations yet to be born”.