My Nonprofit Reviews

I wrote before but it seems that my review did not register/

Our small group of around 8 volunteers traveled with Helen Boxwill and visited urban and rural schools in Ethiopia South of the capital. Most of the group did teacher trainings while I lectured the Architecture school students and faculty at Wachemo University.
h2Empower has been visiting many of these schools over the past decade and a half providing books and learning materials, soccer balls, funds for replacing dung floors with cement, girls toilets, water and other physical needs presented by the parents and teachers. At each school we reviewed what had been accomplished and listened to the modest request for helping in the future.
As an Architect I was struck by how poorly lit the classrooms were. Low openings, we might call them windows but for the lack of glass, on one side provided the only light. The far side of the rooms were too dark to read or write. I suggested at a site under construction, that the windows be raised to above door height and that each classroom have transluscent fiberglass panels in place of some of the metal roofing panels. This was done on the spot and hopefully will set an example for other schools using their current technology without added cost.