Description //

The NGO Africa nos Mira has been working with remote rural communities in the Northern Ethiopian regions of Tigray and Afar since 2006. During this time ANM has helped communities to develop and improve their public primary schools with extension of the facilities and access to water and sanitation.

We contributed to the design and construction of their last two schools, in Walwa and Selam, in western and central Tigray. The design process builds upon months and sometimes years of collaboration, meetings and agreements between different stakeholders. The design itself, consisted in the use of local stones for the walls and foundations that are plastered towards the interior of the classroom which also posses a ceiling to mitigate heat and noise from the metal roof. The design includes extremely necessary shaded area: a longitudinal covered access pathway to the classrooms and a roofed outdoor classroom that can work as overflow classroom, as meeting area for the community during out-of-school time and as shaded playground. At both schools,  we also included latrines and a rain water catchment system, from which the larger community benefits as well.