October 2012 - Trademax Publications

NEWSRewarding excellenceDespite inadequate infrastructure and a lack of basic resources, Vele Secondary School,in the northern Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province, excelled academically.In partnership with the Limpopo Department of Education, the Creating Schoolsprogramme and East Coast Architects designed and built a new school.Words: Steve Kinsler & Derek van Heerden - East Coast ArchitectsPhotographs: Courtesy of East Coast Architects, AfriSam-SAIA and Angela BucklandSchools play a critical role in the life ofcommunities, especially those situated in remoteand forgotten areas. These areas are typicallyunder-served by other public or privateinstitutions and, consequently, offer few opportunities forsocial, cultural, or economic growth.The full potential of schools can only be realized throughinnovative partnerships that extend beyond the rolestraditionally established between government andsociety, or between donors and recipients. Instead, a newapproach must be shaped; one that builds on the skills,resources and commitment of a range of partnersincluding governmental and NGO stakeholders, the privatesector and local communities. In that spirit, the CreatingSchools programme in partnership with East CoastArchitects provided an opportunity to lead the way bydrawing on the success of their collaboration on the SevenFountains School project and developing new partnershipsto replicate that programme with the Vele SecondarySchool.The design team first engaged with the school communityearly in 2008. A number of initiatives were pursued, whichincluded free-ranging discussions with teachers andlearners, as well as more structured conversations withlocal traditional leaders – this was made more interestingbecause Vele Secondary school is located almostequidistant from four surrounding villages and acceptslearners from primary schools located in those villages.Another immediate initiative was the installation of adigital weather station at the school – the nearest formalweather station some 50km distant and 1000m variant inaltitude was considered unreliable for the micro climaticdata we were seeking to inform effective passive solardesign and rainwater harvesting strategies.4OCTOBER 2012