Currently, just two old classrooms at a school in Kaedi, in the south of Mauritania, serve all the deaf children in the area. The facilities were in disrepair and the school is expecting more students, so there was great need for an update.
Silent Work asked the Marthe van Rijswijck Foundation for financial support for the construction work on the two classrooms as Kaedi. The foundations needed to be repaired and the roof was in a dangerous state. The floors, windows and doors all needed to be updated. Additionally, they needed new furniture.
The project has been completed and even more has been achieved than was planned: a third classroom has been added, the primary school has been renovated and the bathroom facilities have been renovated.
The financial support from the Marthe van Rijswijck Foundation went entirely to the new furniture. The furniture was built bij a carpentry company run by Maison du Sourds, also a deaf project. The furniture was built specifically to support the curriculum. For example, the students face each other (this aides sign language) and the furniture is colour-coded to support the curriculum.
We are so proud to have been a part of this project. More children are now attending the school and we hear that they enjoy going to their beautiful school.
