Freundeskreis
Sukuta -
Moormerland e.V
News
The Solar Project 2
During the farewell ceremony of our travel group on 08.12.2022 in the Assembly Hall, the fans suddenly stopped working for several minutes due to a power blackout. Within a very short time, the indoor temperatures in the Assembly Hall rose so much that all participants fled the hall and sought the shade of the trees outside.
This experience was the trigger for the solar project 2, which is to reliably supply the Assembly Hall with solar power in the future, independent of the public power grid.
We would like to ask you to donate for the new Solar Project 2. You can transfer money to the following account or click here.
Spendenkonto FSM e.V. :
Raiffeisenbank Moormerland
IBAN DE 83 2856 3749 0030 7521 00
Verwendungszweck: Solar SUSSS
Please provide your full address in order to be able to send a Donation letter.
Our Gambia trip 2022
Already in July 2022 we booked the trip for 11 participants at the travel agency Poot in Emmerich. One week before the originally planned travel date (14.-26.11.22) the trip was cancelled by the tour operator TUINederland without giving any reasons and no new date was offered. It was only through the strong commitment of our travel agency that we were given a new date by the tour operator: 26.11. - 10.12.22.
This date was finally accepted by 10 participants. A big thank you goes to our "travel marshal" Joachim Killian, who always kept a cool head until the good end and was able to solve all problems in time.
Please read our Travelblog to see more.
A new roof for the staff room
During our last trip to The Gambia in December 2022, we were made aware of the unacceptable conditions in the staff room: the roof was leaking in many places, causing rainwater to severely damage and destroy the ceiling.
We were able to help unbureaucratically and on 1 April 2023, the renovation of the staff room was started: the old roof and roof beams were removed and already one day later, the new roof was erected.
On 4 and 5 April 2023, the ceiling for the teachers' room and the teachers' toilets was installed.
As the seating and tables had also suffered a lot due to the rain, we were also able to fulfil the wish of the school management for new benches and large tables. Thus, the teachers' room is now equipped with 25 new benches and four large teachers' tables.
The roof of the staff room in December 2022.
The new ceiling is installed.
The old roof is torn down.
The new roof of the staff room.
Container on its way to Gambia!
On 18/03/2022, within three hours, more than 40 dedicated and highly motivated upper school students and teachers from IGS Moormerland, together with our "container team", completely loaded a 40-foot high cube container with almost 250 tables, over 220 chairs, over 30 large boxes, 20 wheelchairs and walkers, sewing machines and materials. A super big thank you goes out to the students, teachers and our "container team" for this great achievement!
The truck was able to pick up the container (WITHOUT the truck 12.03 m long, 2.35 m wide, 2.89 m high) on 19/03/2022. On 30.03. it will then continue by container ship to Banjul. The cargo is scheduled to arrive there on 18.04.22.
Last but not least, a big thank you to the district of Leer, the sports shop Jann Lay in Moormerland, the Reha Team Leer, the shoe shop Wirtjes in Leer and the numerous individual donors, including members from Emden, Bissendorf, Münster and Fürstenau.
Group picture with the volunteers
That is how to pack properly
In the afternoon we finished
The container is on its way to Gambia
Hygiene measures due to COVID-19
We recently received these photos of the students' morning assembly from our friends and partners at Sukuta Upper Basic and Senior Secondary School. They are wearing mouth-nose masks that we sponsored for all the students and staff at the school. In the meantime, funds were once again made available for the renewed purchase of hygiene articles.
The Circle of Friends celebrates its birthday
On 21 March 1986, the Circle of Friends Sukuta-Moormerland Ass. was founded in the teachers' room of Moormerland School in the presence of the Honorary Consul of the Republic of The Gambia in Bremen.
Of the board elected at that time, Johanne Veentjer and Holger Schneider have been in office continuously for 35 years.
In the meantime, the 15 founding members have grown to over 100 members, not only from Moormerland, but far beyond the borders of our community. With their support and many sponsors, we have achieved a great deal in Sukuta in the last 35 years: among other things, classrooms and technical rooms, an administration building, the Assembly Hall, a school wall enclosing the entire school grounds have been built and a school library has been set up and fully equipped, for which a new building is now almost completed. In addition, we were able to provide a textbook for every pupil in years 7 to 9 in four subjects. For this we thank our members and supporters from the bottom of our hearts!
The library is finished
At the end of October 2021, the time has finally come: The new construction of the school library has been completed and fully financed, the 2019 offer of GD 3,174,312.00 was not exceeded despite the long construction period.
After completion of the construction work in August 2021, the time can be foreseen when the library can be used as such. Preparations are currently being made for the move from the Assembly Hall to the new library.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to all those who have actively contributed to the success of this project over the past two years.
The photos show the timeline and new library's exterior and interior. For more information, visit the Projects page.
Building of the library – erection of the roof
Installation of fans
The interior
The exterior
The roof is closed
Interior view
The library is in use
The exterior
Construction of a photovoltaic system
In cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Emden-Leer and the association "Nachhaltige Entwicklung in Ostfriesland und der Welt e.V. NEOW), the circle of friends has launched an initiative under the motto "Learning For A Better Future" with the aim of supporting education at the Sukuta Lower Basic School and the Sukuta Upper Basic and Senior Secondary School in Sukuta.
Click here to view the flyer.
After the completion of the school library, our focus was on the completion of the solar system, which will supply the school library with electricity.
When planning the solar system, we assumed costs of about 30,000 EUR.
Since there was still a financing gap of 10,000 EUR at that time, we were able to win the VRD Foundation for Renewable Energies (Heidelberg) as a sponsor for the final financing, which granted us 5,000 EUR for the year 2022. During the planning period, however, the costs for the solar system could be reduced considerably.
The VRD Foundation for Renewable Energies informed us that after our final report on the project was available, the foundation's board decided that the originally promised €5,000 could be fully utilised and could also be used for Solar Project 2, which is currently in the planning stage and is intended to reliably supply the Assembly Hall with solar power, independent of the public power grid.
After initial difficulties, the solar installation for the school library could still be completed in November 2022. During our visit in December 2022, we were able to see for ourselves that the system is very stable and well "anchored" in the ground.
Now a protective fence is being erected around the solar plant. The lighting of the office building will also be supplied with electricity via a 50m long line in case of power failures.
In addition, damaged parts of the outer wall of the school grounds near the plant will be renewed and covered with barbed wire. This is to make additional intrusion into the school grounds more difficult.
Dr. E. Erbslöh sent the final report on the solar project "School Library" to the VRD Foundation in mid-January, thus ending his work as project leader. We are deeply indebted to him for his years of intensive and time-consuming work. We would also like to thank Prof.Dr.Schlaak from the Emden-Leer University of Applied Sciences for his professional support of this project.