Tsunami recovery includes school replacement
Jun. 5, 2006 News media contact: Linda Bloom * (646) 3693759* New York {327}
NOTE: Photographs and a related report, UMNS story #326, are available at http://umns.umc.org.
By Michelle R. Scott*
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (UMNS) - Young girls climb on a small wooden tower near the highway. Boys run alongside a sloping strip of grass that sits between the road and their primary school. Their play areas are limited because the yard at their school is not a good place for them to play.
Four small primary schools sit on low-lying ground below a major highway in Banda Aceh Town. The small buildings are positioned in a rectangle facing a shared yard that is dry today but more often than not is filled with mud. The sounds of children learning can be heard from all directions in the yard.
The buildings are dilapidated and show water marks about four feet up on the walls. First, the earthquake cracked the walls and foundations of these classrooms, and then the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami flooded them.
The tsunami was neither the first nor the last flood for these classrooms. The low ground on which the schools are built, coupled with runoff from the highway, makes for frequent floods when it rains. The children and teachers often must conduct their daily business in wet classrooms.
The tsunami and earthquakes wiped out 176 of 278 primary schools in the Banda Aceh district. While the 750 students at these four primary schools are fortunate to have a school at all following the tsunami, the condition of the buildings does not make for good places to grow and learn.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief is working with the local government in Banda Aceh to build a new primary school that will replace these four structures.
The ground will be raised and will have good drainage to prevent flooding. The two-story structure will come equipped with new desks, chalkboards and other classroom items children need to learn. Outside will be a safe area for children to play away from the road and with equipment for games.
UMCOR is helping displaced people in Indonesia and other places in South Asia to rebuild their lives after the tsunami and return to farming, fishing or other work. More information can be found at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umcor/, the UMCOR Web site.
* Scott, an UMCOR staff member in New York, visited Indonesia this spring.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org
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