HIGH
SCHOOLS
During Mozambique’s floods in 2000 and again in 2001, 400,000 people
who live in the Limpopo and Zambezi floodplains lost their homes and their
livelihoods. An overwhelming international effort brought emergency relief
with helicopter air-lifts carrying people to dry land, but to avoid a flood
disaster on this scale being repeated much preparation work needs to be
done.
The ‘High School’ concept is a two-storey
building, tall and large enough to be flood proof and to accommodate everyone
from the surrounding community in an emergency. These ‘High Buildings’
not only provide a safe refuge in times of flooding, but also act as much
needed community buildings such as schools and centres in rural Mozambique.
Overseen by the Church of Mozambique and with technical
expertise from Parry Associates (a UK engineering firm
who designed the ‘High School’ concept) the first school was
completed in Lionde, close to the Limpopo River, in January 2002. Using
a small team of people, a minimum amount of equipment and locally made
low-cost components. Further ‘High School’ buildings in Mozambique
can now be replicated using this existing technology provided by Parry.
Nconhane school - A new ‘High School’
building is currently under construction in Nconhane, about 10 km from
Lionde. The current school building there is cramped and vulnerable to
floods. This school tries to accommodate all the 650 children from Nconhane
and neighbouring villages, but the children have to attend in shifts starting
at 6am. The new school will be slightly larger than the Lionde school
and has three teachers who will each teach 3 classes of 50 pupils per
day in 3 shifts. The Ministry of Education is committed to the High School
programme and has agreed to maintain the building once completed.
The construction of Nconhane school has been entirely
funded by Potters Bar Methodist Church. Rev Paul Beard, the Minister of
Potters Bar and his wife, Wendy are visiting Mozambique in April and they
will be inaugurating the new school during their visit. Some of the cost
of the construction has been ‘borrowed’ from the existing
MRDF funds held by the Methodist Church in Mozambique and these will be
replenished with the funds sent by Potters Bar Methodist Church once the
outstanding financial matters have been settled (as outlined above).
Potters Bar Methodist Church is keen to establish a strong link with Mozambique
and depending upon the success of the visit, may be in a position to fund
further initiatives in the Limpopo region.
Lionde
school - caters for 600 pupils (aged 6 – 14) and has 9
teachers. The average class size is 65. There are 3 classrooms, one on
the lower level, which was originally going to be left open, but the community
felt that they did not want to waste the space and opted for one large
classroom on this level instead.
The top floor was split into two classrooms at the request of the community.
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Nconhane School under construction
Nconhane School roof
Nconhane School
Class in session at Lionde
Lionde School
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