Background

The rural communities Sabre supports are some of the poorest in Ghana. Village schools lack even basic classroom facilities for their kindergarten pupils, and children are taught in make-shift shelters, private houses or simply under the shade of trees. Lessons are often disrupted by wind, rain and even stray goats.

Through an innovative partnership with construction firms Arup and Davis Langdon, and in close collaboration with the community, the Sabre Trust has designed and built a new type of kindergarten school. This three classroom school provides a light, airy, spacious and comfortable learning environment - a stark contrast to the make-shift schools found in most villages.

The school is also very environmentally friendly, using local materials such as bamboo, soil and coconut husk, and includes a roof designed to capture rain water for washing and drinking. Local people work on the building projects, gaining new construction skills.

Sustainability

With this innovative school design, the use of cement and metal is minimised and local, renewable resources are given preference. The use of sustainable materials is consistent with Government of Ghana policies on the use of natural resources, and exceeds draft Ghana Education Service targets for the use of local materials in school construction projects.