The first school building has been roofed, all 11 classrooms and toilets have gotten their doors and window bars which were painted just a few days ago. Electrical installations have been put in place as well, and the future school compound is being levelled, and switches, plugs etc. are being installed in the classrooms as we speak.

Also, a cesspit is currently being built along with two gigantic rainwater tanks, one above and the other under the ground. Both tanks are to be connected to our school toilets.

There is no such thing as a water supply system in the village, so we had to do it this way if we wanted to have water available to maintain proper hygiene standards in the school. Our students need to be taught all sorts of things, and hygiene is an important one.

Our school construction project doesn’t just come down to the simple construction of walls, classroom furnishing and bringing in students. It is a far more complex project in which everything needs to be taken into consideration. But I will not trouble you with details for now. When the time comes, you will get the chance to see how many details have to be taken care of, and all the things that need to be done.

Therefore, when the first of the two school buildings is completed and open for students, it is not going to mean we will be finished... that the school has been built and so we’re done! It will only be the beginning! But we knew this from the very first day. And as we are getting closer to that beginning, we are even more eager and enthusiastic!

The students and teachers of the carpentry section of our existing Padri Vjeko VTC are working hard, making desks and chairs for the first classrooms. Our intention is to make one hundred desks and two hundred chairs for the first generation of students who will enroll in our new school.

And – since I am talking about our existing vocational school, I might as well tell you about what is happening – recently, Padri Vjeko VTC also got a new look! We put a gate at the entrance to our school premises, and have now enclosed the entire schoolyard. And thanks to our volunteer, painter Petra Lidia Ševeljević, the gate has been adorned with beautiful African motifs. It looks cheerful and playful and is a good reflection of the spirit in our school community!

Translated by Branimir Mlakić
Edited by Valerie Kae Ken

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