Datum is happy to share progress on the construction of its new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and library classrooms in the existing Stepping Stones School in the deprived Mkondezi district of Nkhata Bay in northern Malawi.
Watch the school’s founder Alice Leaper give you an update on the building work in a short video filmed in the grounds of Stepping Stones.
After a severe rainy season, work on the building picked up. Construction is being undertaken by local builders using well established local construction techniques.
Foundation have already been excavated and formed in concrete. Construction of the walls
has started – these are made from locally manufactured earth bricks.
Whilst the ring beam around the buildings has now been built up, Alice and her local construction team are currently gathering mud from the local area to fill up the elevated floor.
The elevation in the foundation comes with a system of drains, to ensure the building is protected during floods in the rainy season.
The team is waiting for the production of new bricks on site, and are currently in contact with local timber companies to high quality material and ensure transportation costs are kept to a minimum, given the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.
As part of the next steps, the roof structure will be with profiled metal sheets. Internal walls will be rendered and decorated, and security grills will be fitted to all doors and windows.
The new Classrooms will be composed of two regular hexagons. Each providing an approximate area of 65m2. One will be used for the new Computer Classroom. The other for the library. In addition,
there is a covered entrance area where children can sit and read.
We look forward to sharing further updates about the project.