The school will consist of four permanent classrooms, one staff room, one library, six pit latrines, a kitchen and dining hall, and a water reservoir. In addition to curriculum, the children will be provided with one meal per day, and receive vital health information on such topics as safe sanitation practices, healthy sexual development, nutrition and basic illness-prevention measures.

An important aspect of what Harambee 4 Humanity wants to achieve through this project is to involve the villagers in the entire process. We do not only want to give them a school, we want to give them one that they have helped design, build, run and grow. This will hopefully instill an ownership within the community allowing them to learn, move forward, and grow in what is currently a difficult shift for the Maasai from a nomadic society to permanent villages.

Please visit "Harambee 4 Humanity's" (www.harambee4humanity.org) to donate to the next phase of this project.

UPDATES:
CONSTRUCTION OF SECOND CLASSROOM IS WELL UNDERWAY
Tues, 2011-11-08 20:00(Canadian Time)
We have now finished construction of a water cistern to be used to store water during the construction process. We are also now in the 5th week of construction of the second classroom. James our Fundi(Contractor) is proceeding well and providing us with weekly progress reports. Next week the ring beam construction will begin along with the installation of the metal windows and construction of the wood trusses.

CONSTRUCTION OF FIRST CLASSROOM COMPLETE/PLANNING FOR BREAKING GROUND FOR THE SECOND CLASSROOM
Sun, 2011-07-24 22:00(Canadian Time)

The construction of the first classroom was completed in July 2010 approximately a month after we all arrived back from Kenya. We received photos of the finished classroom in December 2010 from a mutual friend Brock (http://www.backpackwithbrock.com/) who visited the finished school. See the photo stream above.

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteer fundraisers and generous donors, we are now making arrangements to construct the second classroom and the breezeway which will connect the first two classrooms to complete the first classroom unit. The community is currently holding meetings to organize for the construction. We hope to be breaking ground in the middle of August.

UPDATES:
CONSTRUCTION ALMOST COMPLETE
Mon, 2010-06-28 11:00(Canadian Time)

We have all arrived back from Kenya now. The first classroom should be finishing by the end of this week. All that remains is for James, our Fundi(Contractor), and his crew to finish plastering the exterior and to install the wood and fabric ceiling made of red Maasai chucas.

The new design is respectful to Traditional Maasai construction, local construction techniques, the needs of the villagers, provides passive ventilation and sun protection, provides something for the new permanent Maasai village to be proud of.

CONSTRUCTION IN KENYA
Wed, 2010-05-05 3:00(Kenyan Time)

Karl, Alec and Kyla are now in Kenya helping to construct the first room of the school complex. Mckenzie and Judith are also here documenting the project to make a documentary. For up to date information and pictures about the project, please visit the Harambee 4 Humanity Blog at (http://harambee4humanitylinkinghands.blogspot.com/)

PRESENTATION TO ERA ARCHITECTS INC. #2
Wed, 2010-02-10 08:30

Alec made another presentation at ERA Architects Inc. The development of the school design was the topic of their weekly Wednesday morning design forum. Comments focused on material finishes, and fine tuning to the design. A focus on simplifying the construction materials and process as much as possible was evident.

Please see ERA Architects office blog for details. http://www.era.on.ca/blogs/office/

PRESENTATION TO HARAMBEE4HUMANITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sat, 2010-02-06 11:30

Karl and Alec made a presentation to Harambee 4 Humanity's board of directors and possible donors, showing the most recent design and construction documents. All the feedback from the board was great to hear. With the design solidifying we are getting closer than ever to realizing the construction of phase #1 of the project. We should be starting construction in the middle of March. We are currently scheduling the construction and travel plans as well as fine tuning the design.

DESIGN CHARETTE IN EWASO NGIRO
Tue, 2010-01-12 22:50

On December 30th, 2009 a design charette took place in the village of Ewaso Ngiro, which is where the school site is. The attendance at the charette from the locals was great. Around one hundred people were gathered for the day including the local authority, the school's teachers, the local board of community members and others of all ages from the community.

After being brought up to speed on where the project stands so far, the villagers were split up into Females, Males, and Children. Each group had a group leader who helped organize them to design their dream schools. The feedback we received was in the form of pictures and written comments. The females drew their ideas on paper, while the men mostly discussed the school. The children designed their dream schools out of pebbles on the ground.

The event was extremely successful in both receiving input on the design from the local community as well as in promotion of the school to the locals.

PRESENTATION AT ERA ARCHITECTS INC.
Wed, 2010-01-13 02:42

At the beginning of December Karl and myself had the opportunity to present our schematic design to era architects for feedback. The presentation looked at the culture of the Maasai people, their traditionally nomadic way of life, their architecture, and a proposal for the new school and school grounds. Feedback on the design portion of the presentation focused on two key areas of the project, the first being the constructability of the proposed classrooms, and the second being how to respectfully integrate the new site plan and building into the existing and lost cultural heritage of the Maasai people.

Link to comments about the project on the ERA Office Blog.
http://www.era.on.ca/blogs/office/?p=321

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