Visuals of Initial Design
Quick sketches of what the camouflage will look like in each different terrain.
Plan and Sections of Initial Design
Plan
1: Main Entrance
2: Reception/Meeting area
3: Teaching Zones
4: Pullout Teaching Zones
5: IT Wall
6: Resource Wall
7: Water Storage
8: WC
Sections
Education In Afghanistan
'80% of existing schools were either severely damaged or destroyed as a result of foreign occupation, civil war and political efforts to limit education to the general population.' A.R.O.
And as much of this is result of foreign influence i have strong feelings and a belief that we in the developed world have some responsibility, the resources and the knowledge to help the Afghan population to develop a more stable environment for its future children.
In the UK we have a particularly renowned education system and as a result if we were to help and influence, what would otherwise be uneducated children, we create a new schooling system which would leap fog years of development.
43.1% of Afghan males are Literate and only 12.6% of females. This is extremely low and the whole of the Afghan population needs to be educated, not just the children. There is a common mindset in some of the Afghan population that girls should not attend school and be at home doing house work everyday and as a result very few of girls and women get an education.
There are many different situations in Afghanistan which parents no choice but to keep their children at home and not send them to school and this needs to change. Every child has the right to an education!
And as much of this is result of foreign influence i have strong feelings and a belief that we in the developed world have some responsibility, the resources and the knowledge to help the Afghan population to develop a more stable environment for its future children.
In the UK we have a particularly renowned education system and as a result if we were to help and influence, what would otherwise be uneducated children, we create a new schooling system which would leap fog years of development.
43.1% of Afghan males are Literate and only 12.6% of females. This is extremely low and the whole of the Afghan population needs to be educated, not just the children. There is a common mindset in some of the Afghan population that girls should not attend school and be at home doing house work everyday and as a result very few of girls and women get an education.
There are many different situations in Afghanistan which parents no choice but to keep their children at home and not send them to school and this needs to change. Every child has the right to an education!
Afghanistan's Drug Market
"Without solving the problem of drugs, nothing can be done in Afghanistan. There will be no fight against corruption, no domesruc security and no protection for neighbouring states."
Anatoly Safonov, Russian President 28th May 2010
A survey on Drug use showed that around 1 million Afghan's between 15 and 64 suffer from drug addiction, 8% of the population - twice the global average.
Afghanistan is also virtually the sole supplier of opium accounting for 93% of global production.
The Livelihood of about 1.7 million rural people, 7% of the whole population, are directly dependant on poppy cultivation.
Poppies are estimated to earn approximatly 8x more income per hectare than wheat, using less water and fewer inputs.
What the Children Say
"Afghanistan’s Children Speak to the UN Special Session 19th - 21st September 2001"
'Don't make me say the truth or I shall be hanged.
Nobody will take the side of truth'.
Child in Afghanistan
'I want to let my nation know that peace is the best thing
and they should think about it.'
Girl in Herat, Afghanistan
‘Being disabled my family does not listen to me. Because of this I am almost refusing to eat the food they give me. The children of my own age won't let me join their games because I amdisabled.’
Disabled child in Mazar, Afghanistan
‘I love to be respected. Weall need respect.’
Child in Kabul, Afghanistan
'If we want to survive we should get rid of bullets, pistols, fighter planes and war.'
Child in Afghanistan
'Clean water is the most important thing in our lives.’
Child in Afghanistan
'What is happening to our country,
That some of us are burning,
And others are benefiting?
Our country is broken into pieces.
Yet still I remember my broken land,
And cry for it.'
'In our country nobody grows old,
Because everybody is dying.
How long must this be?
My heart is full of blood.
Even if I will be hanged
I will keep writing my poems
And colour the pages with my words.'
Child in Afghanistan
'Peace is not sold
anywhere in the world,
Otherwise I would have bought
it for my country.'
Girl in Afghanistan
'War is causing all our troubles. It has taken our schools
and our houses and made us leave our land.
The hospitals are ruined, the farms are destroyed,
the children become orphans and the desperate
families are forced to sell their children,
the people become disabled and the women
are left widowed and traumatized.
The children are forced to work on the streets or
go to Iran and Pakistan to find work.'
Street working child in Kabul, Afghanistan
'I hate the rockets because children have lost arms and legs.'
Child in Kabul, Afghanistan
'Knowledge is the torch of life'
School child in Afghanistan
'Don't make me say the truth or I shall be hanged.
Nobody will take the side of truth'.
Child in Afghanistan
'I want to let my nation know that peace is the best thing
and they should think about it.'
Girl in Herat, Afghanistan
‘Being disabled my family does not listen to me. Because of this I am almost refusing to eat the food they give me. The children of my own age won't let me join their games because I amdisabled.’
Disabled child in Mazar, Afghanistan
‘I love to be respected. Weall need respect.’
Child in Kabul, Afghanistan
'If we want to survive we should get rid of bullets, pistols, fighter planes and war.'
Child in Afghanistan
'Clean water is the most important thing in our lives.’
Child in Afghanistan
'What is happening to our country,
That some of us are burning,
And others are benefiting?
Our country is broken into pieces.
Yet still I remember my broken land,
And cry for it.'
'In our country nobody grows old,
Because everybody is dying.
How long must this be?
My heart is full of blood.
Even if I will be hanged
I will keep writing my poems
And colour the pages with my words.'
Child in Afghanistan
'Peace is not sold
anywhere in the world,
Otherwise I would have bought
it for my country.'
Girl in Afghanistan
'War is causing all our troubles. It has taken our schools
and our houses and made us leave our land.
The hospitals are ruined, the farms are destroyed,
the children become orphans and the desperate
families are forced to sell their children,
the people become disabled and the women
are left widowed and traumatized.
The children are forced to work on the streets or
go to Iran and Pakistan to find work.'
Street working child in Kabul, Afghanistan
'I hate the rockets because children have lost arms and legs.'
Child in Kabul, Afghanistan
'Knowledge is the torch of life'
School child in Afghanistan
Facts
Population- 28,395,716
Size: slightly smaller than Texas
70% of the population live below the poverty line
1 in 4 children die before reaching their 5th birthday
72% of the population over age 15 are illiterate
Only 50% of all Afghan children between the ages of 7 and 13 attend school
(CIA World Factbook, WHO, World Bank)
Size: slightly smaller than Texas
70% of the population live below the poverty line
1 in 4 children die before reaching their 5th birthday
72% of the population over age 15 are illiterate
Only 50% of all Afghan children between the ages of 7 and 13 attend school
(CIA World Factbook, WHO, World Bank)
Landmines
It is thought that there are still some 10million landmines scattered across Afghanistan. These landmines threaten anyone and anything moving.
There is a Danish company which have developed a plant that will detect the landmines. The weed will change colour when its roots come into contact with nitrogen-dioxide (N02) evaporating from the explosives buried in the soil.
Ramon Mohamed
I managed to get in contact with Ramon Mohamed who is currently setting up a charity, Building Schools Building Nations. Ramon is a primary school teacher in England and is working to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. I asked him a few questions about his time in Afghanistan.
Hello Rachael
Hope you are well. I am teaching at the British School in Riyadh. I'm enjoying the experience but not the heat.
To answer your question I visited rural schools that had anything between 10 and 200 students.
Some Community Based Schools were housed in living rooms, others in mosques, some outside on mountain tops and I visited one school that was housed in a sheep pen.
good luck
Ramon
Hello Rachael
Hope you are well. I am teaching at the British School in Riyadh. I'm enjoying the experience but not the heat.
To answer your question I visited rural schools that had anything between 10 and 200 students.
Some Community Based Schools were housed in living rooms, others in mosques, some outside on mountain tops and I visited one school that was housed in a sheep pen.
good luck
Ramon
Ramon sent me these images from his time teaching in Afghanistan
Mobile School Research
Mobile School - A Belgian organisation which works with street children in developing countries worldwide
The Transportable School of the Future
Moving School - Goa, India
New Year In Wester Ross
The Bothy
New Year in Badrallach, on the West Coast of Scotland near Gairloch.
Walking From Dundee to East Calder
St Andrews
Crail 
West Wemyss
Lower Largo 
Fife Ness
On the 22nd of May, Stuart and I set off on walk home. We left Dundee and were aiming to reach St Andrews by the end of the first night. After a very long day in blistering heat we made it :) We set up camp looking over St Andrews and the Cathedral and woke the next morning to rain. We got caught in a Thunder storm just before Fife Ness and I discovered my so-called waterproof jacket was certainly not waterproof! We stopped for fish and chips in Crail and continued walking until it was dark and camped on the coast just before Anstruther with a wee campfire :) Day 3 we walked from Anstruther to the beach at LowerLargo and day 4 LowerLargo to Burntisland. I was starting to feel very tired but the end was in sight, we could see Edinburgh across the water. Day 5 we made it to Inverkeithing for a few well earned pints and managed to make it to Kirkliston where we camped beside the scout hut. We were only a few miles from my parents home in East Calder and got home before lunch on day 6.
The Fife Coastal Path is very beautiful and well worth walking. It was the longest walk I have done and cant wait to tackle something a wee bit more challenging this summer :)
Elie
Dalgety Bay 
Kirkliston Scout Hut
Moving Structure
Step 1 : The School is transpoted packed away
Step 2: The three units move to make the structure longer
Step 3: The three units lock together
Step 4: Two ends pull out to create more classroom space
Classroom Furniture Ideas
I want to design furniture for my school which cater for children of all ages and that are stackable and easily stored. The design needs to be durable and the materials very robust.
This chair design allows for all children to use. The chair can be turned around for a smaller or taller chair making it very flexible. I still need to refine the design and decide on materials and at the moment it does not stack as easily as I would want.
This chair design allows for all children to use. The chair can be turned around for a smaller or taller chair making it very flexible. I still need to refine the design and decide on materials and at the moment it does not stack as easily as I would want.
Table 1 is height adjustable for children of all ages to use and sit comfortable at.
Table and Chairs for younger children.
Table and Chairs for older, taller children.
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