| Jan 7, 2021
Kick-off with Container shipment
Some students with their school bags
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.
Each single child wants to get one
They are so happy getting their own bag
The first Computers in the school
First activities to bore a well