safe school in south sudan
DESCRIPTION
Improvement of school safety in South Sudan. Project developed together with Solid House Foundation http://www.solidhouse.orgTRANSCRIPT
Safe school in South Sudanfinal_booklet.indd 1 03/04/2010 14:42:11
final_booklet.indd 2 03/04/2010 14:42:11
Summary 5
Introduction 6
Research 9
Designideas 13
Siteandsituationanalysys 21
Concept 28
Keyfindings 35
Finalproposal 36
Detaileddescription 43
Conclusion 46
Bibliographyandsources 48
Lakes State Southern Sudan
Rumbek Girls’ Primary School Observations and Brief History
October 2009
First Impressions:
Rumbek Girls Primary School is the largest girls primary school located within Rumbek town. It is a sprawling mixture of buildings interchanged with an equal interesting mixture of persons, both human and animal kind, making it hard to know where the school starts and finishes, what is part of the school and what is not and who are either students or teachers.
The main school building is an open U shape comprising of 8 class rooms and a couple of small offices. All the other surrounding building are today used for storage, kitchen, dining room and the new pre-school.
Like the majority of Rumbek, it is scattered with rubbish and very shabby and almost has an “uncontrolled” feel to it as you enter.
Brief History:
The school was first constructed in 1946 by the British. It is believed to have operated as a school until the mid 1980 when the Sudanese civil war broke out again. During this period the school was abandoned as the community fled the area, either to neighbouring countries or the Sudanese bush. During 2004 the school was re-opened as a boarded school for the returning girls to Rumbek Town. As a boarding school the mostly homeless girls, many having also lost their parents could now receive shelter, food and an education. In 2007 the school was deemed no longer safe for the girls to board due to immense insecurity of not just the school grounds and property but also the local men entered the school ground and proceeded to rape the girls every night.
Today the school is run as a day school for P1 to P8 classes. A recent addition is a pre-school facility offering day care fun and learning.
Additional notes and photographs on the Observations:
School Infrastructure:
Structural (the walls) all the classrooms are sound and well built. The school area does contain a number of buildings that where destroyed during the war and are today left half standing. Cleanliness and maintenance is on a very low level both from human waste (not just faeces) and animal. Security would seem a big problem still today, classroom and latrine doors are wooden and most lack locks and those that do are easy to penetrate. Indeed on the 17th October 2009 classrooms where smashed into, leaving broken windows and stolen chairs / desks / books etc.
Primary School October 2009
1
ContentSafe school in South Sudan
final_booklet.indd 3 03/04/2010 14:42:12
4
final_booklet.indd 4 03/04/2010 14:42:12
5
Summary
Designofaprotectionwhichaimsforchildren,mainlygirls,learningattheschoolinRumbek,Sudan.Protectionagainsttheft,localcommunityandwildanimalswhichdivides,butnotisolates-providingasufficientdivisionandsafetyontwolevels.Newwaysofstudyingoutsidetheclassroom(e.g.biologyclassesonthespot)andchildrenbehaviourcreatesfunctionalspacesaroundthetrees.Resistanceforexternalfactorsliketermites,sun,providedbytwolayersofprotection.Localmaterialsandtechniquesusedfordesignproposal.
final_booklet.indd 5 03/04/2010 14:42:12
6
Introduction
FormanyyearsSudanhasbeenincrisisduetocivilwar.In2005bothNorthernandSouthernSudansignedapeaceagreement.Returningresidents,populationmigrationandrefugeesfromothercountrieshasleadtoasuddenpopulationincreaseof2millionpeople.InSudan,over1,5millionchildrenaregrowingupwithoutschoolingbecauseofwar.Propereducationforchildrencouldhaveastrongimpactonsocial,culturalandeco-nomiclevel.
AsastudentIgotapossibilitytocooperatewithSolidHouseFoundation,developingthehabitats,schoolsandwaterfacilitiesinSouthernSudan.Bookletisaresultoffourmonthsprojectdevelopment.Fromtheearlybegin-ningwehadtobaseonwrittenmaterialsdeliveredfromSolidHouseFoundation,knowledgeofdepartmentmen-torsandonmyownresearch.DeliveredsourcesexplainscurrentsituationinRumbekGirlsPrimarySchool,whichisthelargestgirlsprimaryschoollocatedwithinRumbektown.
final_booklet.indd 6 03/04/2010 14:42:12
�
final_booklet.indd 7 03/04/2010 14:42:12
8
The overall first impression of Rumbek Girls’ Primary School is one of an unsafe environment for the stu-dents both from a water, sanitation and hygiene point and a health and safety perspective. (source: SHF brief)
CurrentobjectivesofSolidHouseFoundation(for2010)arere-evaluatedaccordingtothepoliticalandsocialsituationinSouthernSudan.ThereisastrongapproachtoreturntothewarbetweenNorthandSouthSudan,makingareaunstableanddangerous.
DemandsofprotectionschoolplaygroundformulatedbytheSHF:osustainable,localmaterialsosimplebuildingconstructionandmaintenanceocost-effectiveoeffectiveagainstanimalsoefficientanchorageinrelationtoerosion,landslides,flooding
final_booklet.indd 8 03/04/2010 14:42:12
9
RumbekissituatedinSouthernSudan,surroundedbyNationalParkandborderlinewithDemocraticRepub-licofCongo.RumbekisthecapitalofthestateofLakes(alsoknownasBuhayrat)insouthernSudan.Rumbekhadapopulationofslightlyunder100,000in2005,andsustainedsignificantdamageduringtheconflictduringSecondSudaneseCivilWar.
GirlsPrimarySchoolisthelargestgirlsprimaryschoollocatedwithinRumbektown.Itisasprawlingmixtureofbuildingsinterchangedwithanequalinterestingmixtureofpersons,bothhumanandanimalkind,makingithardtoknowwheretheschoolstartsandfinishes,whatispartoftheschoolandwhatisnotandwhoareeitherstudentsorteachers.Theschoolwasfirstconstructedin1946bytheBritish.In2007theschoolwasdeemednolongersafeforthegirlstoboardduetoimmenseinsecu-rityofnotjusttheschoolgroundsandpropertybutalsothelocalmenenteredtheschoolgroundandproceededtorapethegirlseverynight.
Research
final_booklet.indd 9 03/04/2010 14:42:13
10
final_booklet.indd 10 03/04/2010 14:42:13
11
final_booklet.indd 11 03/04/2010 14:42:13
12
final_booklet.indd 12 03/04/2010 14:42:13
13
Design ideas
Duringthedesignprocesswehadtoconsider-whatexactlyitmeanssafety?MaterialsdeliveredtousasadesignbriefwerewrittenaccordingtheEuropean‘style’.Doesweperceivethesafetyinthesamewayasthelocalcommunity?Dosomethingconsideredasunsafebyuscanbecalled‘safe’byAfricancommunity?
Firststageoftheprojectgatherstheideasforapproach-ingsafety.Verticalfenceasadivisionofthespacemaydeeplyinfluenceintotheperceptionofaschoolandchildrenbehind.Projectaimedtonottocreatethe‘prison’alikestructurewithathickwallofbricks.Whileresearchingprojectswhichlooksforthesamefunctions,I’vefoundthatmanydesignersdoesn’ttakethisaspectintoaccount.Almostflatanddisturbedonlywithnaturaldivisions-likebranchesofgreenery-istypicalforthatareaofSudan.
final_booklet.indd 13 03/04/2010 14:42:13
14
final_booklet.indd 14 03/04/2010 14:42:15
15
Verticaldivisionisoneofthemostpopulartypeofthefence.Adivisionrisesupfromtheground,shapedusu-allywithmodularelements.Dependingonsafetyneedsandavailabilityoflocalmaterials,avarietyofsolutionsexist.Verticalfenceisalsoalandmark,visiblyandlogi-callydividingthespaceforhuman,animals.
Wealsoresearchamonghorizontaldivisionsasasolu-tionforgivensituation.Incontradictiontoverticalscheme,thisoneseemstobemoreopen,lessvisibleandalsolessaffectiveintothesite.Openspacefeelingcreatedbythatkingofdivisioncanbeveryvaluableinaschoolsituation.Invisiblefromadistancemakeschildrenfeellessisolatedandlessdividedfromsur-rounding.Usingdivisionselementsonagroundsurface,whichpreventslocalpeopletoaccessordisturbthechildrencouldberealisedwithlocalmaterials.Possiblesolutionscouldbeaglasstrashspreadsonthegroundinavisibleway.
final_booklet.indd 15 03/04/2010 14:42:15
16
final_booklet.indd 16 03/04/2010 14:42:17
1�
Givenassignmentwastodevelopsafetyaroundtheschoolarea.Wecarefullyshouldconsideredtypeofmaterialusedinthatsurrounding.Firstprincipleisofcoursesafetyofthegirlsinsidetheschool.Usedaroundspaceswherechildrenplayandstudy,rapidlymoves,plyingfootball.Barbedwirecouldbeharmfulinsomecases.Itbringsagoodsafetylevelbutinthesametimehasastrongconnotationswithclosedareasforprison-ersratherthangirlsimprovingthemselvesinsidetheschoolbuilding.
Wetriedtotestvarietyofbarbedwireormetalmeshfenceswhichcouldbeadjustedforsitepurposes.Dig-gingthewireunderthegroundasaexampleofland-scape/visuallycorrectdesign.Similarsolutionsusedforaveryhighqualityofdivisionfx.onthecountrybor-ders.Barbedwirecouldbealsoattachedtotheground,creatinganopenandflexiblesolutionforhighsafety.Proposalgivesanopportunitytousenaturalgrass/plantswhichgrowsonlocallateritesoil.
final_booklet.indd 17 03/04/2010 14:42:17
18
Consideringalsoalandscapedesign,wheresoilisshapedinawaytoachievesufficientsafety.DevelopedinUKlandscapesolutionforhidingfenceunderthegroundmainlyforparkpurposesiscalledha-ha.Thiskindofdivisiondoesn’tdisturbstheviewfromtheinsideofthepark,couldbeusedalsoonbothwaysofstonewall,division.It’sformisverticalbutbringssomehori-zontalimprovementswhichchangesinapositivewaytheperceptionofthatfence.Solutionalsoextensiveinasoilusage-difficulttodeveloplongerfencesandalsodifficulttomanagewithunusedsoil.
Landscapedesigngivesanpowerfulopportunitieswithnatural,existingenvironment.Improvementofele-mentswhichalreadyexistsaroundtheschool-bigtrees,walkingpathsetc.coulddeliveranaddedvalue.Naturaldivisionshasalsoastrongimpactforhuman,whichonlyrecentlydarestoreshapelandscapeforhisownpur-poses.Riversbringsadifficultbutalsoverylogicspacedivision.SituationinSouthSudanisalreadyverydifficultinmanagingnaturalwaterresources.Proposinganaturalfencebringsalsodiscussionabouthowtousewaterinanappropriatewayandgainthemostforhumanbeing.
Schoolareaandplaygroundisaffectedbyandunsafe
final_booklet.indd 18 03/04/2010 14:42:17
19
final_booklet.indd 19 03/04/2010 14:42:20
20
final_booklet.indd 20 03/04/2010 14:42:22
21
becauseofdozenfactors.Firstofallit’salocalcommu-nitysincetheschoolisfocusedongirlsdevelopment.Forexampleonthe17thOctober2009classroomswheresmashedinto,leavingbrokenwindowsandstolenchairs,desks.
Naturalenvironmentlikewildanimalscrossingcon-stantlyareaoftheschoolisalsoaffectinggirls.Nowlandscapeorenvironmentaldivisionprotectsfromforexamplecattlewhichpassestroughareatodrinkwaterfromlocalwatersource.
Schoolisalsoaffectedbyinsufficientandnotprotectedlatrines.Sincethey’republic,theusageoflatrinesbecomeimpossible.Lackofbasicsanitationaffectsthedailylifeofallpupils.
Classroomsareaffectedbylocalcommunitywhichdoesn’trecognisetheschoolarea.Treesareusedfordryingclothes,motorbikesandothervehiclescrossestheschoolareafromanydirection.
Site and situation analysys
final_booklet.indd 21 03/04/2010 14:42:23
22
final_booklet.indd 22 03/04/2010 14:42:25
23
Takingintoconsiderationmaterialchoice,it’salsoneces-sarytolistdestructionfactors.Directsunlightandter-mitescouldbethemostaffectiveanddestructive.Areaisalsowindy.
Duringthedesignprocesswehadtoanalysethesite.Visiblefromthesatellitepicturenaturalpathsofpeo-plemovementshowsveryclearlythewayofusingthespace.Naturally‘grown’pathsofmovinglocalcom-munityaretakenintoconsideration.Pathsarecreatedbythereferenceorimportantpointwithintheschoolsurrounding.Typicalexamplesarepathsleadingtowatersourcepoint.Childrenhastowalkupto5minutestoreachdrinkablewaterfromtheclosestdrinkingpoint.Directionstothelocalmarketarealsovisible.Breakingormovingthisnaturallycreatedpathsmakesaresponseontheproposal.Pointswhichcrosseswithpathsmove-mentsareequippedwithgates.Differentopeningsfromthreesidesofschoolmakesitaccessiblefromalmostanydirection.Itshouldbealsomentionthatgatesshouldbeproperlyclosed/openduringthestudyhours.
final_booklet.indd 23 03/04/2010 14:42:26
24
Functionanalysys:
final_booklet.indd 24 03/04/2010 14:42:28
25
Functionaldivisionaroundtheschoolareacouldbealsovisible.Ringsmarkedonamapexplainsthepositionofpossiblesituatedwellinthefuture.Alsothepositionoflatrines,playgroundandopenspaceclassrooms.Thosefunctionaldivisionsinfluencesintotheshapeofdesignproposal.Byadjustingtheshapedesignproposalalsoaimsforcreatingapleasantspaceoutsidetheschool.Byadjustingtheheightofafence,functionaldivisionsbecomemorevisible.
Shadowisalsothefactor,whichcreatesfunctionalspac-esonthesite.Sincedirectsunlightisstrongandhardtoresist,peopletendstogatherundertheshadedarea.It’salsoimportanttomentionthattheshadowisaligneddif-ferentlyandhasdifferentlengthduringthedaybecauseofRumbekpositionontheglobe.Descriptivematerialsbringstheobservationthatshadowisveryshortanddoesn’tchangeit’sdirectionsremarkablyduringtheday.
final_booklet.indd 25 03/04/2010 14:42:29
26Shadowfromfencecreatesaspace
final_booklet.indd 26 03/04/2010 14:42:32
2�Shadowfromfencecreatesaspace Transparencystudies
final_booklet.indd 27 03/04/2010 14:42:33
28
Conceptforaschoolprotectionisbasedonmulti-layeredandmulti-functionalschemeofaverticalfence.Differ-entlayerwhichtouchesthegroundprovidesprotectionagainstgenerallydescribed“nature”.Factorslikewildanimalsorsmallergoats,chickens,dogsordonkeys.Thislayermakesdefensivelayerfromtermitesaswell.Bushcreatedbynaturalmaterialslikeacaciaprovidessuffi-cientlevelofprotection.
Concept
final_booklet.indd 28 03/04/2010 14:42:34
29
Secondlayerprovidesthe“human”protection.Alltheof-fensivepopulationneedstohaveavisiblelandscapemarkthattheschoolareaiscoveredbyprotection.Visibilityisalsoimportant-childrenhaveafeelingofbeingdifferedbutinthesametimestillwithinthecommunity.
final_booklet.indd 29 03/04/2010 14:42:34
30Protectionofplaygroundwithchildrenvisiblearoundtheschool
final_booklet.indd 30 03/04/2010 14:42:37
31
final_booklet.indd 31 03/04/2010 14:42:39
32Protectionofplaygroundwithchildrenvisiblearoundtheschool
final_booklet.indd 32 03/04/2010 14:42:41
33
final_booklet.indd 33 03/04/2010 14:42:44
34
final_booklet.indd 34 03/04/2010 14:42:44
35
Key findings
Analysingthesiteleadsustodefinecrucialpointsofde-signproposal,whichisbasedonideaofopen-airclass-room.Webelievethatthelackofclassroomsinexistingschoolcanbesupportedbyexternalspacearrangement.Siteusageandfunctionalareasaroundtheschoolshows,thatchildrenandteachersgathersunderthetrees-formorepleasantatmospherewithoutdirectsunlight.Itseemstobeverybasicandsimple,withreferencestothebeginningsofeverycommunitydevelopment.Smallgroupofchildren,whogathersaroundthespotforedu-cationalreasonsareverybasicandsimple,yetleadingtoimprovement.Theimageofacommunityclassroomwhichexist,wherepeoplecollectinagroup,leadsusdevelopaproposalforlocalsafetyimprovement.Whatdowewanttoprotect?Onpoethiclevel-thesimplicityoftheseexternalclassrooms.
final_booklet.indd 35 03/04/2010 14:42:44
36
Final proposal
Newwaysofstudyingoutsidetheclassroomlikebiologyclassesonthespotandchildrenbehaviourcreatesfunctionalspacesaroundthetrees.Shadowprovidesbetterstudyenvironment.
final_booklet.indd 36 03/04/2010 14:42:44
final_booklet.indd 37 03/04/2010 14:42:44
38
final_booklet.indd 38 03/04/2010 14:42:45
39
final_booklet.indd 39 03/04/2010 14:42:47
40
final_booklet.indd 40 03/04/2010 14:42:47
41
final_booklet.indd 41 03/04/2010 14:42:48
final_booklet.indd 42 03/04/2010 14:42:48
43
lateritesoil
lateritebrick(shaped)
acaccia(againstanimals)
bamboostructure
stretchedtop(cradle)Detailed description
final_booklet.indd 43 03/04/2010 14:42:50
44
Chosenmaterialfenceisbamboo,becauseofit’sflexibil-ityandlocalavailability.Usingdurable,non-toxicmateri-alsinrecycledcontent,andstructureitselfcanberecy-cled.Preservationofnaturalareasatschoolplayground.NaturalbambooisalreadyusedinRumbekforthatfencingpurposes.It’sgoodsidesinalongtermareeasymaintenanceandweatherresistibility.Properlyinstalledandassembledcanlastforlongperiod.Bambooisalsoeasytomanipulatebylocalcommunity.Byusingsimpletoolsandweaving/interweavingtechniques,it’spossi-bletocreatealargespanstructurereflectingbiologicalforms.Bamboomanagedbylocalcommunityisalsoanopportunitytostimulatejobmarket.It’sagreatbusi-nesstoprovidesustainablesafetyimprovementaroundthespots,wheresafetyiscrucialelement(school,clinic,privatehousing,localmarket).
final_booklet.indd 44 03/04/2010 14:42:50
45
Shapedlikecradlemakesthefenceextendingtheshadowarea.Morespotswithbetteratmosphereim-provesstudyspace.Aligningthefenceaccordingtothesundirectionisappliedonlyaroundtheimportantspot.Structureofbambooisraisedup,gatheredontoplevel,shrinkandbend.Processofshrinkingandbendingispossibleonlybyusingnaturalmateriallikebamboo.It’selasticity,especiallyyoungandflexiblesticks,becometaughtafterexpositiontodirectsunlight.Designpropos-alexploresthatprocessofchangingthequalityofthematerialaftercertainperiodoftime.
final_booklet.indd 45 03/04/2010 14:42:50
46
Onehundredtwenty-onemillionchildrenworldwide,themajorityofwhomaregirls,arenotenrolledinprimaryschool(UNICEF).Atthesametime,millionsofexistingclassroomsareinseriousneedofrepairandrefurbish-ment.Schoolsfaceintryingtoprovidesmart,safeandsustainablelearningspaces.Designproposalisusedasatooltoimproveexistingschoolarea,strengthenlocalcommunityandenlargeamountofchildrenwhichcanattendtheschoolinRumbek.Outdoorclassroomsasanewwaysofeducatingchildren.Exploringopportuni-tiesoflocallyavailablematerials-bamboo-aswellasit’suniquequalities-flexibilityandstrength.Shapeofprotectionvariesontheplancreatingorimprovingfunc-tionalspacesoutsidetheschool.Multi-layeredstructureofprotectiongivesfunctionaldifferenceswithinthestructure.Lowerpartsusedforprotectionagainstani-mals,upperstructureasavisiblelandscapemark-whichdivides,butnotisolates.
Conclusion
final_booklet.indd 46 03/04/2010 14:42:51
4�
final_booklet.indd 47 03/04/2010 14:42:53
48
Bibliography and sources
Doreleijers,W.,July2008,AppropriateArchitectureforSouthernSudanDesignandConstructionMethodfortheSolidHouseFounda-tion,TU/emasterthesis
SolidHouseFoundation,October2009,RumbekGirls’PrimarySchoolObservationsandBriefHistory
SolidHouseFoundation,2009,SudanMaterialsDatabase
SolidHouseFoundation,2010,IntroductiontoSHFinSouthernSudan,presentationbySuzanneDamman
Sinclair,C.,2006,Design Like you Give a Damn, MetropolisBooks
ArchitectureforHumanity,2008-2009,Annual report
Neufert,Ernst,2002,Architects’ Data (3rd ed.),Wiley-Blackwell
SatelliteviewprovidedbyGoogleMaps
final_booklet.indd 48 03/04/2010 14:42:53
49
‘‘SAFESCHOOLINSOUTHSUDAN’’
MarcinOsiecki,2010Mentors:IrenevanPeer,ErnaBeumersCollaboration:ChiaWeiWangDesignAcademyEindhoven,TheNetherlandsLanguage:English(UK)
ThisworkislicencedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike2.5PolishLicense.Toviewacopyofthislicence,visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/pl/
Note:Thisprojectwascompiledaspartofman&Humanitymasterdegreecourse.
Moreinformationsavailableon-line:http://www.marcinosiecki.nl
final_booklet.indd 49 03/04/2010 14:42:53