On 16 October 2013 in Hpo Shwe Lone, a village in the Ayeyarwaddy Delta region in the south-west of Myanmar, a celebration was held for the official handing over to the village community of the school house built by Swiss Humanitarian Aid. In a speech during the ceremony, Ambassador Christoph Burgener said that the opening of the Hpo Shwe Lone school house marked the end of a project that was launched in 2009 following Cyclone Nargis. Thanks to this project, 42 schools with a total of 133 classrooms have been rebuilt for use by more than 7,000 pupils in this hurricane-prone region.
Construction of storm-resistant school buildings
To make a sustainable contribution to the reconstruction of the region, the schools were rebuilt to provide the whole community with a safe place to shelter in the event of another natural disaster.
«The earthquake-resistant buildings were designed on two levels: the first floor, which houses the classrooms and staff rooms, can provide shelter to up to 1,000 people in the event of a disaster. The ground floor has room for additional classrooms or may be used as an assembly area for the village community,» said Peter Brunner, project manager for school construction in the delta.