More Than a School
How a School Serves its Community as a Hurricane Shelter
February 28, 2019
Paix Bouche School is located in the small village of Paix Bouche, on the island of Dominica. After Maria hit, the quantity of students attending the school, declined. With mold and water dripping from the inside of the classrooms, the children did not feel safe, nor excited to learn.
“If you look, you will see that the rooms are very dark, and there’s constant dripping of water from upstairs. So since then, it has been recognized that the school was not as safe as they thought it was.”
Paix Bouche after Hurricane Maria hit
Paix Bouche was used as a hurricane shelter during the storm. Within minutes of the 160 mph winds hitting Paix Bouche, Hurricane Maria had ripped the entire roof off the building, as well as windows and doors. A shell of a building remained.
The All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response team determined that we would be able to start a disaster recovery program to not only repair the school, but to build back better.
Local workers from the village and surrounding areas came together to work alongside our volunteers in order to rebuild the school.
Over the course of the next few months, our team made sure to construct the building in line with Build Back Better Principles, outlined by the UNDP, Engineers Without Borders, and the national government.
The School design aims to address two major disaster risks, high winds and seismic activity. The roof has been designed and engineered to withstand another hurricane with the same magnitude as Hurricane Maria.
All Hands and Hearts has made Paix Bouche Primary School the first school in Dominica to be rebuilt in time for the new term of September 2018. With the adjustments made on the structure and strength of the building, the school also functions as a hurricane shelter for the community.
Paix Bouche after Hurricane Maria, during construction, and after months of hard work.
The journey to recovery is a long one. After the hard work from everyone involved, the team took a final day to celebrate the work they accomplished together.
Recovery efforts continued on the island through Janurary 2019, with the completion of several roofs and two more schools. We take our hard-earned knowledge and skills onward as we seek to help communities recover from natural disasters. To find out how to support our programs worldwide, visit our website.
FOOTNOTES
Story by Nessy Rayner, photos by Nessy Rayner & Georjie Adams for All Hands and Hearts
