Earthquake Relief School Reconstruction Activities

Areas Covered: Community Based School Cambrian Zameeri, Community Based School Takia Doga and Comunity Based School Sumbol

Community Based Schools

SRSP started its education program in District Mansehra and District Kohat in the year 1996 through the establishment of 15 Community Based Schools (CBSs) in each district with the financial assistance of Social Action Plan (SAP-1). After two years of initial struggle and efforts when the project ended in 1999, it was started again for further capacity building of the schools with the financial assistance of Big Lottery Fund provided through a UK based organization called Learning for Life (LfL). The project ended after two years. However, the program commenced again (2004-2007) with the following targets;

• Strengthening of the 30 old schools in Districts Mansehra and Kohat
• Establishment of 40 new schools in 3 new districts added to the project; 10 schools each in the districts of Peshawar, Abbottabad, Chitral and Mansehra.

Thus, the project is currently working in 5 regions of N-W.F.P and its target is 70 community-based schools.
Until the end of the first year of the project i.e. in August 2005, about 19 new schools had been established i.e. 5 each in Abbottabad, Chitral and Peshawar 4 in Mansehra. Thus, a total of 19 schools (15 old and 4 new) existed in Mansehra Region before the earthquake. The process for the identification of the remaining 6 new sites was to be initiated but owing to the devastating earthquake, the activities in the district were quite affected. The reasons may well be anticipated by anyone. The rescue of the survivors, provision of medical aid for them and their rehabilitation became a challenge for the government and the non-government organizations. The disaster took away almost everything from the poor inhabitants of the region; from their homes to their shops, from their health centers to schools and sudden loss of the beloved ones was yet another trauma for them.
The 19 schools in District Mansehra suffered a similar fate. About 11 schools collapsed and 8 schools were severely damaged. (The damaged ones cannot be used now, as there is a possibility of their collapsing). The schools were open and 51 students lost their lives and 43 were seriously injured. Fortunately enough none of the teachers or the VEC members lost their lives. However, after the disaster the schools had to be closed for over a month, as there were no shelters left to continue the schools in. When this information was shared with the LfL, they agreed to fund the reconstruction of the CBSs in Mansehra to revive the education systems for the children.

Learning For Life Re-construction Phase

The LfL reconstruction phase will extend from March to December 2006. Our partners in the project have agreed to fund the construction of all the 24 sites in District Mansehra i.e. reconstruction of 19 school sites that collapsed or were severely damaged and the construction of 6 new sites. (6 new sites because all the villages have been destroyed to varying extents and there is no infrastructure to set up the remaining 6 CBSs).
This document describes the progress of the reconstruction activities that have been carried out in the first two months of the project. 
The reconstruction phase began with the preparation of a building design followed by a situation analysis of the selected sites and finally the reconstruction of the schools was initiated.

Building Design

It was proposed that 1health center would also be constructed with each school building so as to make health facilities available to the poor communities at their door step. The design was prepared by SRSP with the assistance of its Engineers, which is as below;
School Building

• 2 rooms 25" X 15
• 2 toilets
• Verandah 10 feet wide and a boundary wall.

Health Center

• 1 room 25" X 15"
• 1 toilet
• Verandah 10 feet wide and a boundary wall.

Situation Analysis
The School Monitoring Officers (SMOs) and the Regional Engineers carried out the analysis in the months of February-March 2006. The purpose of the situation analysis was to;

• Assess the extent of damage to the schools
• Identify sites for the reconstruction of the schools.

Out of the 19 established schools situation analysis of only 14 schools could be carried out. This is because the remaining 5 schools are located in the Kaghan Valley, which is one of the worst affected areas. The roads were closed during the winter months due to land sliding and secondly inhabitants of the area have migrated to safer areas after the disaster. The situation analysis of these schools will be carried out when the roads reopen in the summer months.
For the 6 new sites that had to be established, two new villages with the genuine need for education facilities were identified. These are Cambrian and Baffa Maira. The situation analysis for these two schools has also been carried out.
The School Monitoring Officers (SMOs) held meetings with the communities, the VECs and the teachers to identify sites for the construction of the schools. During meetings the reconstruction phase of the project was introduced to them. They were explained that their contribution in terms of provision of space for the school building and the health center would result in long-term benefits for them and their future generations. The response of the communities was overwhelming. Many of them were wiling to provide their land free of cost for the purpose.
The Regional Engineers then carried out a technical feasibility of the selected sites. This study showed that about 6 of the identified sites were technically not feasible for construction. It was either the terrain that was not technically feasible for construction or the space provided was not enough for the construction of the school building and the health center. The SMOs were asked to have further dialogues with these communities and identify new sites that could be feasible for construction. This process is still in progress.

Construction Activities

The construction process began in April 2006. The present situation is as below;

The education systems came to a halt after the earthquake that changed the infrastructure into wreckage. The schools had to be closed down for over a month. This is because the communities are very poor and lack the resources to build up the physical capacities of the ruin for reviving the education systems. Their children had started to pick up bad habits. They would roam about in the village the entire day. This became a great concern for the parents. The communities therefore decided to start the schools in tents or in open air.
The weather conditions and the conservative culture of the villages would often restrict the return of all the students to the schools. The introduction of the reconstruction of the schools along with the health centers emerged as a ray of hope for the disadvantaged communities. They began to actively participate in the process. The following are a few points to depict their efforts in the process of reconstruction;

• Provision of land with out asking for any incentive: it is noteworthy here that the people in the communities are very poor; the meager resources that they possessed were lost in the earthquake. Only a few of them own 2-3 canals of farmland, which is a source of their earning. As per SRSP mandates social mobilization forms an important aspect of any program. Through efficient interaction with the community they were motivated towards providing land for the reconstruction of the schools.  As a result the communities volunteered to donate their land for the school.

• Provision of facilities to the skilled and unskilled labours that are hired from other areas: the communities have been very helpful in providing accommodation to the labours that were hired from other areas. As per conservative culture of the area the people usually do not allow outsiders to live in their homes but the communities have been very cooperative in this case.
• Arrangement of water and other accessories at site; for instance, the community women would cook the food for the LfL/SRSP team and the labours on the site.

Post Construction Difference in the Community

Before the earthquake the regular activities involved active interaction of the VEC, the teacher and the parents in specific and the community in general. However, after the disaster the scenario changed and the entire community began to actively participate in the school matters.
In a situation where the first priority of the communities is rehabilitation of their homes, they have shown through their active participation that the need to revive the education systems is equally important. Some of the members have donated their lands while others are participating in the construction process as labours. This shows that the communities have become aware of the importance of the education of their children.
Before the reconstruction a few results were expected which have proven to be correct. They are as below; 

• Increase in Students’ Enrolment: Students at CBS Cambrian Zameeri have shifted into the newly built school (students will shift at Takia Doga in three days time). It has been noticed at Cambrian Zameeri that the communities are very keen in enrolling their children to the school. Children from the nearby villages are also accessing the school. Thus it serves three villages in all. At present its enrolment is 35 students and is expected to increase up to 60 students. However, it could go beyond this but there is only one teacher and it is becoming quite burden some for her.
• Formal Setup of Education Systems: Before the earthquake the schools were set up in the homes of the community. They were usually one/two room schools with out a playground. Hence the setup was informal but the reconstruction of the schools is actually an establishment of proper and formal school setups in these villages.

Now the school not only has spacious rooms but also separate toilet facilities for girls and boys. Verandahs and playgrounds with a boundary wall give students sufficient space to play in a protective environment.
The formal setups assure the safety and the protection of the students and this may also lead to an increase in students’ enrolment especially that of the girls. Secondly, parents are also willing to send their children to the school that is easily accessible and the children do not have to walk to far off areas for the school. Formal school set up at their doorstep has given them a new definition of basic service delivery at the grass roots level.

• Normalizing the Life of Survivals: The establishment of the school has helped to bring the students and the communities back to normal life to a certain extent. Studying under open sky or in a tent had its own psychological impacts. For instance, a student at CBS Takia Doga said that she missed her school alot. She wanted her school to be reconstructed as soon as possible. 
• Health Center-a Common Hub for the communities: Most of the villages are located in far-flung areas where the delivery of basic services is often difficult. The construction of the health centers would be a landmark in their history. It is being expected that it would become a common hub for the communities that would help create health awareness amongst them.

Expectations of the Community from the Health Centers

Establishment of health centers has led to an increased enthusiasm and participation of the community. This is because as stated before no health facilities are available in these areas. People are often extremely poor and access to a health facility in the urban centers is very difficult for them economically and socially. Women are the more disadvantaged as their mobility to the centers is difficult. Even if they have the access they refrain from going to a male doctor due to cultural constraints. Access to a lady doctor is difficult and often impossible for them. If someone falls sick they rely on home treatment.
The provision of a health center at their doorstep has raised the hopes of the communities. They expect it to be a solution to their problems. They are viewing it as a clinic or probably a dispensary where they will have an easy access to a doctor and medicines.
To make the concept of establishing a health center more beneficial and successful it is recommended to use it not only as a center of health awareness but also as a basic health unit. The communities could be provided access to a doctor or at least a lady health worker and few medical facilities such as the first aid and few medicines. Efforts could also be made to link them with the government hospitals from where the doctors (males and females) can visit the villages regularly.  

Problems Encountered During Reconstruction Activities

The process of reconstruction has been quite slow because of certain problems that are as below;

Site Selection

Although the communities willingly identified their land for the construction of the schools but a few problems were faced in this aspect because of the following reasons;

• Technical feasibility of the land depends on two things; the geographical terrain of the land; the available space for the construction of the proposed design. In case of CBS Cambrian Zameeri the two factors favored each other. On the other hand in CBS Takia Doga the site identified initially did not favour the two factors.

This site was owned by the teacher of the school and was located where the school before the earthquake had been situated. The SMOs had further dialogues with the communities and a new site was identified, which favoured both the factors. The shifting of the site led to social disputes among the community. To resolve the issues more dialogues were held with them in the presence of the Regional Program Manager of Mansehra Region and the problem was sought out.

Materials Availability in Earthquake Stricken Areas

Availability of Materials

the easy availability of raw materials has been of great concern since the beginning. The engineers had proposed in the beginning that wooden structures would be erected as it costs less than the steel structures. But wood is not easily available in the areas. The forestry department has banned the use of the locally available wood. For this purpose wood has to be transported from other areas, which becomes time consuming and is also costly.

As a result in CBS Cambrian Zameeri and Takia Doga steel girders and MS pipes were used in place of wood. This made the process expensive.
Incase of CBS Sumbol the process has been quite slow because of the unavailability of wood. However, efforts are being made to acquire wood.

Transportation of Materials

Usually, even this mode is not available and mules or labours are hired who walk to the site with the load on their backs. The process not only becomes expensive but also time consuming.

• Electricity Availability: Most of the sites as Cambrian Zameeri and Takia Doga are located in far flung areas off the main road where the facility of electricity is often not available. This further complicates the process of construction especially when the process involves steel welding for erecting the iron structures. To overcome the problem generators were arranged on the site but this affected the pace of the work.
• Water Availability: Unavailability of sufficient water at both the sites affected the speed of cement and concrete work. (Water availability is a problem that the people of these areas are faced with. Usually the women will fetch it from a nearby stream).

3. Skilled/Unskilled Labour

The availability of local skilled and unskilled labours is yet another problem. This is because the government has started the reconstruction phase. Compensation cheques are being distributed among the affected ones for the reconstruction of their damaged homes. Thus, the local people are mostly busy in the collection of the cheques. Those who have received them have started the reconstruction of their homes. Hence, most of the labour for reconstruction of schools has been hired from other areas and only a few of them belong to the communities where the school is being constructed.
The hiring of labours from outside the community increases the capital costs. This is because though they get the same wages as the local labours but their accommodation, food and mobility becomes an additional cost.