The School Building Project
Unacceptable conditions for a "bule" ...
Being in more close contact with the elementary school in Tongkeina brought other and some times shocking problems to my attention. One thing that I noticed was the fact that the roof on one of the 3 small buildings, was covered with asbestos and without a proper ceiling, dust "rained" on the children, when there was as much as a leaf falling on the roof. Coming from Holland I thought this was an unacceptable situation and in 2002 started to raise funds to replace the roof, put proper ceilings in the class rooms, that, to be honest, looked more like a prison than a school for small children. Money was raised by performing small local shows for guests of the dive center and other, spontaneous donations. 6 children sitting on a 1,5 meter long bench and sitting at a 1,5 meter long table, does not improve concentration, so we continued helping by donating 20 new benches and tables and painted the class rooms and the walls outside. Having finished this small project triggered a question from the elementary school in Meras, another village nearby. They also asked help for furniture and maintenance and using the same "fund raising" system, this school was helped in 2003.
No escape possible anymore ...
In 2004 the elementary school in Bahowo, part of the village Tongkeina, asked me to come by and look at their school. This did not happen until 2005. When I finally canme around, I found 2 small buildings, whereas one of the buildings had partly slid into the sea. Walls were severally cracked, floors were broken beyond repair and the roof was in a dangerously, instable state. Many parents already kept their children home, because the building was unsafe to teach children in.This looked like a project that was far more extensive than that we had done before; this school needed a complete new building. We started to work on that and by organizing small performances done by the school kids and (unemployed) men of the village we managed to collect 15.000 US$ from guests and other donators, the amount we thought necessary to build a complete new school building, new furniture and renovate the other building, which still could be used. Because the building was owned by the government, we were not allowed to break it down, but had to start the new building on a separate location, next to the other building. The work started in October 2005 and the building was officially handed over to the government on the 20th of March 2006. All work was done by 12 (unemployed) men of the village in a matter of 5 months under the guidance and coordination of Michelle and became one of the most beautiful elementary schools in the area.
A promise with big consequences ...
During the official opening and hand-over from the elementary school in Bahowo, I promised that I would build a Junior and Senior High School as well. This mainly because the number of "drop-outs" of children of the high schools steadily increased due to the very high transportation costs to town, getting more expensive every month with the increasing fuel prices. I started discussing this idea with the committee of the local church, of which I knew was raising money for a new building on another location in the village and which did not have any plans yet for the old church. We came to an agreement and on the 1st of November the first stone was laid for the building of the new school.
Funding the project
For this enormous project we needed a lot of money. Through a guest of the dive center, Ocke Schuttevaer, I was introduced in the world of "professional fundraising" and the many organizations involved in this. All at the sudden I had to write proposals, had to make budgets and come up with a "real" building plan. Not something I usually do on a daily basis. With some difficulties we managed to get all requirements in place and the organizations "Wilde Ganzen" and NCDO (Nederlandse Commissie voor Duurzame Ontwikkeling) approved the projects and promised that donated money would be eligible for a bonus. Donations came from Rotary Clubs, friends and family organizing parties and projects, and from guests and colleagues, who really showed to have a warm heart for the children in this area.
Getting over budget ...
Although the actual building was planned to have only one floor and only would house a Junior and Senior High School, we ended up building an extra floor because the roof of one of the buildings of the old elementary had collapsed under a big falling tree and needed so much repairs, that it was easier to just add a level on the newly build ground floor. A new shock occurred when the iron prices went up with 130% and fortunately my cry for help was answered by "Wilde Ganzen" and "NCDO" and many other donators.
Building
The building process had started with 20 un-employed man from the village, who thus had a job for a period of 8-10 months. When the deadline came closer, we had to speed up the building activities and at the end of June 60 men finished the main building. "Komplex" persekolahan "Kehidupan Anda" was born. On the 3rd of July the main building, consisting of a total of 14 class rooms, was inaugurated by the priest of the village and on the 16th of July 2007 284 children started their education in their new school. The result is fantastic!
In the meantime ...
While the building was on its way some great people in Holland were very busy collecting donated school furniture and storing it all at one place. We still would like to thank Carl for picking everything up from everywhere in Holland, Casper and carl for storing everything, Jan, Gerton, Geert-Jan, Joice Gerjanneke and Joice and Casper to put so much energy, time and effort in packing everything. When this was done, a huge 40 ft container was transported to the harbor of Rotterdam and shipped to Tongkeina, where it arrived on the 28th of July. After some customs problems, everything was finally ready to use at the beginning of August. The classes look better than any class room in the area.
But we are not done yet ...
We have started to build the supporting buildings; a generator/ sports equipment room, a cantina , rooms for the teachers and a big class room for the children from the kindergarten school. Unfortunately, due to a big financial hole in the budget of the operational expenses that we faced, we used some of the "building money" to "cover" this hole. The result however was that we had to stop building. The money is finished. We are of money to finish the building and create a basket ball field and gate around the school. Upon writing this text we have organized 2 local shows as a means of fundraising and received a very generous donation from Jaakko from Living Colors. With this money we have been able to construct the foundation and the beams and have started now with putting in the walls and windowsills. WE hope to collect enough money to have the buildings finished by the second week of January. We'll keep you posted ...
