The Escola Primária 21 de Outubro – a primary school in a slum of Maputo, Mozambique – is a school in total disrepair. The buildings are in no condition to be used by students. There is no furniture. There are no working toilets, the former facilities being clogged with dirt. There is no running water, no light and no recreation facilities.

But, even so, the children flock there for lessons, so desperate are they for education. So many children come to the school that there is not enough space for them all. They sit on the bare floor to learn.

Thanks to a StoryPlus Foundation rehabilitation project, the Escola Primária 21 de Outubro is able to educate these keen children far more effectively.And the education they receive will help prevent them falling into street gangs, prostitution, drug addiction or a life of crime – a fate that affects far too many of the more than 23,700 school-age children who live in Maputo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Completed in 2001.