Help us Build Manambaro Lycee

Building on the massive progress our school group made in July, a much smaller team of Pioneers used a combination of technology and old-fashioned hard work to make sure Lycée Manambaro was ready for presentation at its October inauguration! Without a mechanical cement mixer at the ready, the group of three Pioneers mixed all of the cement required for the foundation and floors by hand, before applying the first coat of fresh white paint to the out- and inside walls. Slick! Technology did play its part when the Construction team’s toolbox expanded to include a circular saw and generator, which helped immensely to cut timber for the windows and school benches constructed by Pioneers. Our Malagasy team enjoyed sharing their expertise, showing the team how to measure, construct and build the benches which innumerable students will sit on for years to come. The Pioneer’s newfound woodwork skills came in handy in constructing the roof trusses and fronting before the Construction team raised the roof itself. Finishing touches were also made to the two-cubicle latrine block, including a final coat of paint and the addition of locks to the toilet doors.

When the team had any downtime, the Pioneer guides Yvon and Aimé ran Malagasy classes and organised trips to the local market, ensuring the Pioneers not only got a taste of life in Madagascar and essential values, but of the incredible fresh produce available!

Perhaps most memorable for the Pioneers were the personal stories of the students benefitting from the new school buildings. At 18 years old and with just one year of school to go, Naina understands the value SEED’s new school buildings will provide for the children of the wider Manambaro community. “Another lycée building means more education for more Malagasy people,” he said. Walking in most days from the remote town of Sariasamabo, 11km from Manambaro, Naina often stays in town with relatives to find time to study after attending school. Aside from learning English, Naina noted that the attention SEED has played to Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) practices at the lycée has been especially helpful; “Everyone now uses the latrines and it means we have somewhere to go in privacy.” Naina plans to attend university and his dream is to be an English-speaking guide for tourists in the region.

With work on the second school building almost complete, construction work at Manambaro Lycée has now turned to focus on the third school building which will house the final two classrooms being built by Project Sekoly. With an influx of international volunteers over the summer months and the continued hard work of local construction workers, the final building is going up at an impressive rate. The foundations were dug and laid in just 4 days!

Before laying the foundations, the site had to be cleared and the outline of the building dug by hand. The first layer of the foundation, formed of concrete reinforced with thick metal wire, was laid. Work then followed on the rest of the foundations, which consists of multiple layers of granite stones set with cement, altogether making a level base for the building. With these foundations set, the team has now moved on to building the brick walls, setting each layer with mortar and clay sourced on-site or from the local villages. The coming months will see the walls completed, floors laid and erection of a roofing frame covered by a tin roof. 

Many hands make light work

Part of the reason why work has been progressing at such a rate on the third school building is due to the efforts of a visiting school group, who spent two weeks in Madagascar supporting SEED at the beginning of July. For four days, the 12 students and 3 teachers from a college in Edinburgh turned their hands to a range of construction work at the lycée, including mixing cement (with buckets and spades, rather than a cement mixer!), bending reinforcing rods into shape, assembling structural supports and laying granite stones. Along with six local construction workers and several SEED project staff, they made an effective and efficient team.

When asked what her highlights were of their time helping with construction, one of the students, 17-year old Breagh, replied that “the most rewarding part of the experience was seeing the local children in town and around the campsite, knowing that the classrooms we are helping to build will one day benefit them and help them to access a better education.” She was impressed at “how skilled, efficient and hard-working the Malagasy builders are”, and listed laying the granite stone foundations alongside Tafa, a local builder, as her favourite bit of the construction work. She also enjoyed mixing the cement by hand, although described this as being “very hard work!”