From the classrooms to the dining room: 5 improvements at SEMAFI to start the school year
Earlier this year, the Meylou Fund for the Deaf partnered with ZARASOA Madagascar to make critical improvements to the Fianarantsoa School for the Deaf’s (SEMAFI) educational and boarding facilities.
We aimed to identify low-cost, high-impact projects which would significantly improve the daily lives of students and staff. Here are five improvements made at SEMAFI this year:
1. Expanded Rainwater Harvesting System
Having enough water has always been a struggle at SEMAFI, and as the number of students grows, so has the demand for water.
The school’s main source of water is an unreliable city pump with unpotable water. Students and staff supplement this with water from their rain harvesting system, but it hasn’t been enough to meet the school’s needs for a long time.
When the pump cuts out and water tanks run empty, students hike down to the rice fields below the school to fetch water.
Thanks to ZARASOA’s expert masons, SEMAFI now has six new rainwater storage tanks, increasing the school’s storage capacity from 22,000 liters to 34,000. Additionally, old gutters were replaced and water filters were added to existing tanks, improving the entire system. This increase in rainwater storage gives students and staff greater access to clean water and reduces the need for students to fetch water from the rice fields!
2. New Chalkboards
When SEMAFI moved to their current campus in 2007, they were given a school with just three classrooms to house eight grade levels. In order to accommodate the diverse education needs of the students, these classrooms were divided in two to create six learning spaces.
But there was one major difference between the two spaces in each classroom: the chalkboards! The learning spaces in the front of the classrooms have long, spacious chalkboards.
At the back of the classrooms hung much smaller boards, giving teachers little space to write out lessons and exercises for students. To be blunt, the teachers hated them.
We raised the funds necessary to construct three new, spacious chalkboards for students and teachers to use. When teachers have the tools they need to be more effective in the classroom, ultimately it’s the students who benefit.
3. Clean and Colorful Dining Room
There are few places at SEMAFI where boarding students spend more time than the dining room. There, students eat their meals, study before dinner, and engage in other activities each day.
Last school year, they used tables and benches with chipped paint, eating and studying in a room with faded grey and white walls.
Last month, SEMAFI teachers, staff and parents came together to repaint the dining room and the furniture within.
The tables and chairs were painted a variety of bright colors — pink, yellow, white, blue and red — and the walls are now red and white. Today, it’s a far more welcoming place for students to eat and learn.
4. Secure Dormitory Doors
For years, the locking mechanisms in the doors to the boys’ and girls’ dormitory were broken. Locking the doors was difficult and, in some cases, not possible. This raised significant concerns for student safety.
We provided funds to SEMAFI to purchase two custom-built doors for the student dorms.
The doors were constructed in August and installed before the students returned to class. Now, the SEMAFI community rests easier knowing the doors’ locking mechanisms are strong and secure.
5. Stable Classroom Dividers
As noted previously, each of SEMAFI’s three classrooms are divided by wooden dividers, some of which can be moved.
Several of these dividers have been broken for years, making them wobble.
Worried that a divider might accidentally fall on a student one day, we supported SEMAFI in their effort to fix them. Now, all of the dividers are strong and stable, providing a safer learning environment for students.