Norwegians build schools in Aceh

Norwegians build schools in Aceh

JAKARTA: The first two elementary schools to be rebuilt in
tsunami-wrecked Aceh will be officially opened on Thursday, after
four months of construction work.

The schools have been reconstructed with the help of the
Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in cooperation with the Torvald
Klaveness Group and Wilh. Wilhelmsen, two major Norwegian
shipping interests. The new buildings cost approximately
US$100,000 each and will accommodate a total of 216 children and
18 teachers.

"This was a pilot project and a good example of how the
Norwegian business sector and a humanitarian organization can
work together and take international social responsibility," said
secretary-general Raymond Johansen in NRC.

Fourteen of 24 elementary schools in Aceh were destroyed or
seriously damaged by the Dec. 26 tidal wave.

In cooperation with the Indonesian authorities, NRC is
organizing teacher training. Hundreds of schools that lost
everything have received a "school-in-a-box" crate filled with
necessary teaching materials. NRC has also introduced music,
theater and art in the curriculum as a means of treatment for
students who suffered severe trauma following the tsunami. -- JP