Summer 2015 project report
This months newsletter reports on the success of the project trip to Bolduresti in August, when a team of 23 volunteers travelled to the village middle school to provide the teachers and children with indoor bathrooms. The current outdoor toilets are just holes in the ground within a brick building, providing no privacy or hygiene for the pupils.
The team travelled overland using lorries lent by BT Supply Chain and a trailer from the charity Hope & Aid Direct. Nine days was spent at the school creating bathrooms and shower rooms for the children, along with distributing aid (clothes, shoes, blankets, bedding etc). The school teaches 300 children from the ages of 7 to 16 years. Whilst at the school the team received a warm welcome and loads of help from Nadejda the director, teachers, children and local tradesmen.
The team travelled overland using lorries lent by BT Supply Chain and a trailer from the charity Hope & Aid Direct. Nine days was spent at the school creating bathrooms and shower rooms for the children, along with distributing aid (clothes, shoes, blankets, bedding etc). The school teaches 300 children from the ages of 7 to 16 years. Whilst at the school the team received a warm welcome and loads of help from Nadejda the director, teachers, children and local tradesmen.
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One of the first tasks was the creation of drainage for the new toilets and sinks, including the installation of the septic tank (provided by Drain Depot). The director of the school, Nadejda had completed a large amount of preparation work prior to the teams arrival, especially as the school was only chosen to be this project four weeks prior to our arrival. The director had removed trees from the area where the septic tank would be placed, cleared classrooms not only for the new bathrooms but also for the volunteers to have somewhere to sleep. The tank was installed with the help of a local digger and driver who made light work of the digging and filling in, which normally would be done a lot by hand. TEECH are thankful to Hunters Plastics for the donation of external pipework and fittings to make the job possible.
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The day of the tank installation, TEECH were joined by the UK Ambassador to Moldova Phil Batson and the Embassy team who worked hard all day, as they had in 2014. TEECH are grateful to them for their continued support.
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Plumbing for the bathrooms started by creating holes for the waste pipes, quickly followed by the toilets and sinks. Sanitary Ware was provided by Clacton Bathoom Superstore and the Urinals from Danby's.
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A team from GlaxoSmithKline also lent a hand, painting the gym with paint specially used for hygiene purposes and at the request of the director. For a few days of the project we were also joined by US Peace Corps volunteers who got stuck into the painting and tiling and where a huge help translating.
Here you can see the lino being laid in the bathrooms before the sanitary ware was installed. Thank you to Kesgrave Carpets and Altro Ltd or the lino this year. |
A ‘free shop’ was opened for three days at the school. Over many months donations of clothing and new shoes had been collected and sorted by volunteers and these were now laid out in a classroom of the school and the villagers invited in to choose items for themselves and their family for free. Thanks goes to many of you for donating items and Bob Parfitt who continues to donate large amounts of new items to the charity each year.
Throughout the time at the school, local children who wanted to draw and paint came daily to the school and worked with TEECH volunteers and ladies from the US Peace Corp to create some amazing artwork (one seen in header at the top of this newsletter was drawn by the children). Paint was donated by Brewers of Clacton and many other individuals. TEECH would welcome further paint before next year.
The team also took on the task of turning old shower rooms (seen in picture - the diving wall and door would be removed) into shiny new showers with hot and cold running water beside the gym. Tiles were donated by Elite Tiling.
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The last night was a coming together of TEECH and the teachers from the school, where we could all sit and eat together and reflect on the project’s success.
They say a picture speaks a thousand words therefore please take a look at further pictures from the trip in our photo gallery.
They say a picture speaks a thousand words therefore please take a look at further pictures from the trip in our photo gallery.
Thank you to......
Please click here to see a list of all the suppliers and donators who helped to make the project possible. We now start to collect clothing and other items ready for 2016. If you have any good quality clothing to donate then this can be sent through BT to us throughout the year.
packing dates
As reported last month, TEECH are now based in Colchester for packing days. The next sort and pack will take place in October. Please see the packing dates page for the dates when they are released and contact us if you require directions. Thanks
christmas shoebox appeal
If you have previously completed shoebox presents for TEECH and would like to again this year, or you would like to start doing boxes, please think about starting them soon. All the instructions are on the website with a poster to be available in October. The deadline for boxes to be received by us will be Friday 11th December.
