Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Construction - Indonesian Style Part Two

Our new school building has been occupied for approximately two weeks. Well in that short time, it’s beginning to fall apart.
First, as I have already mentioned there are no building inspections, and no codes. Therefore, many things were not put together properly, or not constructed at all. For example, the roof, or lack there of. We have a three story building with no roof. (They ran out of money). For the first time in six weeks we had rain – steady through Saturday night into mid morning on Sunday. I actually enjoyed hearing the rain, and I could smell the wet dirt through the screens on the walls at my house.
Foolish me- when I arrived at 6:00 am on Monday (August 11th) my classroom had been rained upon. The walls were dripping wet, the computers had gotten water in them, papers, chairs, and desks were wet. It appears that the 3rd floor – which is not covered, has drains along the perimeter of the floor. However, the “slight” problem is that the floor is not flat and the water pooled in different locations and then dripped through the floor tiles.
The library took the brunt of the rain. We have very limited books for the students. They were drenched. The principal and her family put newspaper between the pages of the soggy books. Some books were able to be salvaged – although warped. Others had to be thrown out. It broke my heart. Monday was a very discouraging day for me. I’m not sure what made me sadder, the lack of forethought or the limited supplies damaged irretrievably.

3 comments:

Debbie S. said...

Carol-
That is awful!!! Even with the State of Delaware's financial crisis they can afford to put roofs on the schools. I never heard of such a thing. Did they really think the drains were to prevent the entire building from getting wet? Were there any plans to put a roof on?

Did they cancel school for kids? If not, it must have been a very stressful day for everyone.

Hopefully you will receive a package late next week. I am anxious to hear how long it takes to arrive.

Last Thursday I had 19 kids in my class. Then we lost 2 teacher units, one being in fourth grade and the other in 1st grade. So as of yesterday 29 students were on my list and today it is up to 34!!
I will go into school on Friday to begin setting up my room. Inservice begins next Monday!!

Debbie

michele t said...

Carol, that does sound very discouraging and sad. I can't imagine all those books, computers and materials getting wet. Can I send you some books? Just e-mail me the address of where to send. My e-mail address is: micheletyndall@yahoo.com. What kind of books do you need?

I just had an idea. How much would it cost for a new roof? Carol, I have joined a site in DE on line called Delaware Moms. I'm thinking we could raise some money to send over so that the proper materials can be bought and the school could at least get a roof. Please e-mail back and let me know what you think. I could get started over here in fund-raising. I bet we come up with a good amount of money in a short period of time. The moms on this site are awesome and willing to help others.

Hang in there. This must be a rough time. Lean on us over here and maybe we can make it a little smoother.

I'm thinking of you and missing you.

Love,
Michele T.

ask17 said...

Carol, it is so hard to believe that there could be so much of a haphazard attitude in the building of the school. What is the plan to correct the situation?