Empower Makoko Project 2.0 - Phase 2

Empower Makoko 2.0

#makokolearns

Report Summary

Makoko is a huge informal community in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria. It is also a fishing community, characterised by low-income levels. Accordingly, many of the children in this community have no/limited access to education. Where available, the quality of learning environments are below desired standard. The Taiwo Shemede Foundation - a social impact venture - provides free education to children in the community with the aim of improving their literacy and numeracy levels, and help peak their interest in pursuing further education. DoGood.Africa set out to provide fundraising and technical support to PartOfSolution2 prep school in an attempt to alleviate pressures on existing school facilities.

Problem Statement

The teaching & learning facilities available to the school are insufficient to cater to the growing number of pupils, and the children are therefore forced to learn under strenuous conditions.

Existing School Building

Some of the problems identified include:

• Only one classroom with inadequate roofing - hence, the children are unable to attend lessons when it rains;
• Over 200 pupils try to fit into a classroom that can optimally accommodate 30 students. In a bid to accommodate the children, the school borrows the church’s space located next door and converts it into a classroom that can accommodate 50 children. Still, the space is insufficient; (approximately 0.14 squared metres per student; the global recommendation is 2.5 squared metres)
• Pupils sit on the bare floor to learn as there are currently no chairs/ or tables in the classroom; and
• Students do not have access to basic learning materials.
• DoGood has identified the poor teaching conditions in PartofSolution2 Prep as a hindrance to the quality of education being received by the children and a disincentive to their active participation.

Crowded classroom - no furniture

Classroom provision for school

Planned Solution(s)

DoGood Africa is looking to create a more conducive environment for the pupils that attend PartOfSolution2 Prep school (UN SDG 4). As part of this project, DoGood Africa aims to achieve the following

• Add roofing to the existing classroom, so the children can learn regardless of the weather conditions;
• Build an additional classroom to relieve the pressure on the existing one;
• Fit both classes with a total of 34 benches and desks - each pair will sit 5 pupils;
• Donate basic stationary to the pupils including notebooks, pencils, erasers and sharpeners; and
• Recognise full-time and volunteer teachers for their contributions, whilst encouraging more learned individuals to volunteer.

Executing this project will be the first step toward future education-related interventions in the Makoko community starting with improving and promoting the awesome work PartofSolution2 Prep is currently doing!

Expected Impact & Benefits

This project would:

• Encourage parents of the Makoko community to enroll their children in lessons/schools;
• Create a safer environment for learning

Impact Assessment

PHASE 1 - (COMPLETED)

Monitoring and Evaluation

1. Use of Funds (please refer to the appendix 1a for funds breakdown) 
DoGood raised a total of $1,829 (~NGN 914,000) from the phase 1 capital raise in July 2021. With these funds, DoGood was able to create a safer learning environment by facilitating the following:

• Built a temporary outdoor classroom canopy structure which is currently being used as an alternative classroom to the previous accommodation. Improved student to area ratio of 0.5 squared metres per student.
• Built 34 pairs of desks and benches that can sit up to 5 students apiece
• Procured 300 Part of Solution 2 branded notebooks which will be delivered upon commissioning of the new classroom
• Paid ad-hoc stipends to volunteer teachers

• Outdoor classroom extension; New furniture in use; Market stalls observed - enhancement of small business location

Open-air learning under canopy

Newly invested furniture

2. Impact metrics

Through Phase 1 of Empower Makoko 2.0, we were able to achieve the following;

Direct Impact

• Improve the learning conditions of the students by providing desks and benches, and the soon to be deployed notebooks
• Provided direct employment for furniture makers within the community
• Providing additional space to accommodate the growing number of students
• Improving the morale of volunteer teachers by paying a stipend

Indirect Impact

• Recorded an improved demand for basic education in the community - Increased number of enrolled students by 2x within a 6-month period
• The canopy tent acts as a shed for the children to play sheltered from direct sun on weekends, and outside school hours
• Investing in POS2 has encouraged wider interest in other social impact projects sponsored by The Taiwo Shemede Foundation in the community i.e an orphanage is now being built opposite the school.
• The school environment acts as a commercial point for female traders to sell their goods (e.g. bread) to the members of the community, including the students
  
  

PHASE 2 (IN PROGRESS)

During the implementation of phase 1, the project sponsor communicated a change in the plan for their school to accommodate increasing student enrollment. The canopy structure initially intended to be a permanent classroom extension would now provide temporary accommodation while the foundation embarked on the task to renovate their existing classroom into a storey building in what we’re calling phase 2.

The Empower Makoko 2.0 project team is encouraged to support this expansion to the project brief in line with the following projected outcomes:

• Opportunity to increase the benefits of improved student/space ratio on the quality of the learning environment
• The renovation would re-establish the open field strictly as play space improving the quality of the child’s play environment.

DoGood Africa Foundation has carried out a few site visits to facilitate discussion and investigation on optimal design for the proposed school building. These visits often involve volunteers including an architectural consultant & construction manager to oversee design & budget speculations. Construction of the school building has already begun with funds raised by the social impact venture. To date, the foundation and the decking has been constructed, & the project sponsor estimates phase 2 will require a total of NGN4 million to bring to completion. This will cover roofing, flooring, framing, staircase, furniture (doors and windows) and finishing. Please refer to Appendix

1b for a detailed breakdown.

DoGood Africa has invested surplus funds from phase 1 in the procurement of building materials for phase 2.

Ongoing construction of new school building -Phase 2

The Makoko community is one that’s dear to us, and while phase 1 of this project has a direct impact in addressing the poor learning environment students were faced with, investing in phase 2 is estimated to deliver further tangible impact for the students of Part of Solution 2 Prep School.

Appendix 1a - Detailed use of funds

Appendix 1b - Phase 2 planned use of funds