Hangars at Abubakar school, Bredjing Camp, Chad

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“The grass buildings looking like giant haystacks are actually the new classrooms that the parents’ committees built with European Union funding through UNICEF towards the end of 2007. You will see the long shadows caused by the trees, under which the students of the schools sat until recently – in fact, there are a few remaining classes under trees, which is far from ideal. The main problem has been that the buildings were not well-built from the beginning of the camp in 2004. It was never understood just how strong the wind is in the summer rainy season and everything blew away. When the funding was received, we finally did the intelligent thing and asked the Sudanese what they would like. The reply was that grass/wood structures with walls of the same material would allow the wind to pass through and so reduced damage. Further, the natural materials provide shade from the sun in summer, shelter from the cold wind in winter and reduce student distraction…” –Anne Goddard, CORD Education Programme Manager, Chad