ANNUAL REPORT 2014 EPP & CHILDREN S SCHOOL LUANDA Submitted by ADPP Angola to UFF Norway
The school started in 1991 as The School for Street Children in Luanda (Escola Formigas do Futuro), teaching orphans and street children from 1 st to 6 th grade. In 2002 the school started to teach up to 8 th grade. In 2006, in response to changing needs in the area, the school became a secondary school, teaching exclusively 7 th to 9 th grade. Since 2011, the school has been implementing the new program: EPP Escola Polivalente e Profissional (Practical and theoretical school) for 7 th, 8 th and 9 th grade. This is a full education consisting of academic and practical skills utilizing many new and modern methods. In the end of 2013, the students on the first EPP team concluded 9 th grade and graduated, many of them with very fine results. From 2015, new students will be enrolled only for EPP, so in time this program will become the main program of the school. Project Activities and Results EPP 7 th grade There were 87 students enrolled in 7 th grade, 40 boys and 47 girls, though one student left because his family moved to another area. 7 th Grade is divided into three classes with 28 or 29 students in each class. At the beginning of the year the students received the EPP Program Book. They were introduced to the program, which is described as climbing a mountain and consequently composed of steep ascents followed by periods of levelling off, or plateaus. The first hike Swimming like a Fish in Water consisted of 11 weeks of getting used to this new and challenging form of education. The students got a taste of some of the professions in the EPP program. Later they spent two weeks doing investigations in the neighbourhood. They prepared questions in the classroom and went out in small groups to interview people. At the end of the period, they wrote reports and made presentations for each other about what they had found out. Another week had the theme Construction and mathematics where the student practised using mathematics to solve different kinds of practical questions, such as how much paint was needed to paint the walls in the classroom. Other themes of the first hike were the human body, art and culture, and children who are active in society. Through this varied program, the students received many new impressions and met numerous challenges, while assimilating new ways of learning. The time of passively listening to the teacher or reading a schoolbook was over. EPP meant investigating, talking to different people, using theoretical knowledge to carry out practical tasks and taking responsibility for one s own education. The latter part of the year was devoted to learning about different professions and carrying out three common actions. The common actions were about the environment and about health and hygiene, where the students worked to create more awareness among local people about these
important aspects of daily life. The students concluded the period by giving talks about what they had done and what they had achieved. At the end of the year, Grade 7 sat exams and presented their work at People s Exams. EPP 8 th grade The 51 students enrolled in 8 th grade were divided in two professions. The Community Health Agent class had 26 students, 13 boys and 13 girls, while The Information and Communication Assistant class had 25 students, 18 boys and 7 girls. The first hike of 8 th grade, hike 4, Digging deep into your profession gave the students the opportunity to learn much more about their chosen subject. The Community Health Agent students did this by studying various themes, such as nutrition, anatomy, common diseases and medications, first aid, and HIV/AIDS. In the practical lessons, the students learned, among other things, to measure the body s water content and metabolic age. They used their new knowledge to carry out various actions. Organized in groups of three they visited their families in order to control the level of hygiene in the home and to help the families to improve the health of their young children. In another action, they went from door to door in the community to inform people about the prevention of malaria. All the students presented what they had learned in an entertaining performance called It s Show Time. The Information and Communication Assistant class visited the local radio station, Radio Cazenga, to see what a radio station is composed of and how the emission of information functions, and to get to know the people working at the station. They then revived the school radio station. Through this, they learned how the radio transmits information. They also went into the community and asked people about their opinion and perception of radio. Both classes had three days of work experience, the Community Health Agents in local health centres and hospitals, and the Information and Communication Assistant class in different firms within their profession, such as a printing firm. The period concluded with a People s Exam, where the students presented their work and answered questions about what they had learned. Schoolwork and extracurricular activities continued throughout the year, interrupted by the period when the student had to leave their mark on the community. The Information and Communication Assistants worked on road safety, hearing about road traffic accidents through a talk given by DNVT (Department of Motor Traffic). They made a display about what they had learned in order to pass on the information to the wider community. A second activity in the period of Leaving Your Mark on the community was a two day Olympics with the support of the police, the fire brigade and the communal authorities. 400 students and 50 members of the community took part on the first day, and 600 on the second. Football, volleyball, basketball and many other games were played. See photos in the annexes. EPP 9 th grade
There were 30 students in 9 th grade, divided in two professions: The Community Health Agent class had 18 students, of who seven were boys and 11 girls. The Information and Community Assistant class had 12 students, eight boys and four girls. The first hike of 9 th grade was Practicing your profession at school, in workplaces, and in ADPP projects. The highlight of this hike was three weeks of work experience. Both theoretical and practical lessons were geared to preparing the students for this challenge. In March, the families of the students and members of the local community were invited for an educational and cultural event, where the students in 9 th grade presented different themes related to their professions, with due qualifications by the teachers who were present. The students in 7 th and 8 th grade participated in the cultural activities. The Community Health Agent students worked at four different hospital units during the work experience period, while the Information and Communication Assistant students were in a graphic company, where they learned much about graphics and printing and how a book is made from the first step to the final product. After three weeks in their respective places of work, the students wrote reports about their experiences and about what they had learned about their profession. They presented their reports at a People s Exam in the presence of all the other students and teachers at the school, who in this way witnessed the efforts made by the trainees. Later in the year, the two classes undertook a series of actions as part of their final year project. Over five weeks, the Community Health Agents participated in a vaccination campaign run by the Ministry of Health, they practised first aid, they researched common diseases and their prevention, they carried out a campaign about Ebola and they interviewed the first aid agents during the two day Olympics at the school. The Information and Communication Assistants visited Radio Eclésisa where they learned about how the station functioned. They made a wall newspaper about the first president of Angola and about heroes of the country. They made a display about traffic accidents to inform their fellow students and the community at large. They had courses by professional journalists about quality information and lines of information, they made posters and they studied the social networks. On completion of the above period, all the students presented the results of their projects. The end of the year was devoted to getting ready for exams, putting finishing touches to reports, preparing for People s Exams and looking forward to graduation at the beginning of 2015. Secondary School Escola das Formigas do Futuro In 2014, 227 students were enrolled in the ordinary secondary school program, which is identical to the program in the public secondary schools. They were divided in two shifts, meaning that the students in 7 th and 8 th grade studied in the morning shift, while the students in 9 th grade studied in the afternoon. The students, who were mostly between 14 and 20 years of age, were distributed in the respective grades as follows: 38 students in 7 th grade, 104 students in 8 th grade, and 185 students in 9 th grade. The students were always present in the common activities at the school, and they practiced sport twice week and participated in a municipal sports competition three times during the school year.
Other Activities Weekend programs EPP Luanda has a good tradition of Saturday programs, which are very popular among both students and teachers. One such was a cultural and information exchange towards the beginning of the year, as part of the integration process of the 7 th Grade students. The program was very popular, and everyone attending had a most enjoyable day. Another Saturday program was an action to create a tree nursery. The nursery was established in a large area at the back of the school. During the action, some of the students filled soil in small plastic bags, while others sowed the seeds in the bags and watered them. Other groups of students cleaned up in different areas of the school. The result after four hours was 5.000 bags filled with soil and 3.000 of these ready with seeds. Building weekends gave the students the opportunity to improve their own surroundings and help with cleaning actions in the local community. During one building weekend, they painted the school. Mathematics Olympics EPP Luanda held a maths Olympics over three weeks to encourage the study of this subject. All the students participated and prizes were awarded. Sports activities Sport is important at EPP Luanda and Escola de Formigas do Futuro. There was a very active basketball club with different teams training during the day, from the youngest students at EPP and the students in the normal general education to young adults. A partner of the school donated a brand new basketball court including bathroom. Twice a week the EPP students had physical training with the sports teacher. Theatre For many years theatre has been an important activity at Escola de Formigas do Futuro. The school has a theatre room with a stage, and many students have been involved over the years in playing major or minor plays. Several former students have continued working with theatre after they finished school. In 2014, the school participated in a theatre competition. EPP Luanda performed three plays, and EPF Ramiro and EPF Luanda one each. EPP Luanda took the first three places in the competition. Family planning EPP Luanda participated together with the two other EPP schools in Luanda Province in the implementation of a family planning project, the objective of which was to increase the use of modern family planning methods and delay the first birth among teenagers in the communities around the schools.
On the 30 th of April the teachers at EPP Luanda had a training session about sexual and reproductive health. The teachers were initially reluctant to participate but they rapidly became very interested. The idea was that they would teach their students about the subject. The Community Health Agent students had a special task to carry out in the form of actions in the community to promote family planning among their peers. This was done on two occasions in May. A group of 10 students and a teacher carried out an action at a market, and later they went from door to door to talk to teenagers. These actions attracted much attention among the population of the community. The effects of the project The EPP program has a profound impact on the lives of the students. They learn about the realities of life and they become responsible, serious and outspoken young people with a high level of awareness about important questions in the local community, in Angolan society and in the world. They learn to seek solutions to society s problems at both theoretical and practical levels. The communities that meet the students through cleaning actions, health campaigns, tree planting activities and other cultural and sporting events approve of the program. They together with the parents and the local authorities cooperate with the school in the implementation of the program. Escola de Formigas do Futuro has a long tradition of taking care of the local community around the school, through many different health actions and campaigns and cultural events at the school. EPP Luanda has proudly taken over this tradition and enjoys a close cooperation with the local authorities and the local hospitals and health units, where the Community Health Agents have their work experience period. The Project in Numbers Goal 2014 Achieved 2014 Number of students enrolled in 7 th grade of EPP 140 86 Number of students enrolled in 8 th grade of EPP 50 51 Number of students enrolled in 9 th grade of EPP 30 30 Number of students enrolled in Secondary School 275 277
Number of students who have graduated after the 3 year EPP programme Number of events realized for the community around the school 45 45 10 7
ANNEXES EPP & CHILDREN S SCHOOL FORMIGAS LUANDA AJUDA DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DE POVO PARA POVO From the moment I started to study at EPP I got more that love of one s neighbour to be able to build that spirit of working in groups always with the aim of helping one another. I like the activities that the school organizes -Elcilvio Sebastian, student at EPP Luanda
ENVIRONMENT PROMOTERS The Action As part of the program, a community action was implemented by 7th Grade EPP students and teachers in the community surrounding the school. It all happened because the environment promoters felt the need to put an end to the messy and unhealthy environment in the community surrounding the school, with rubbish everywhere. They carried out a cleaning action with the community. Our reactions We feel moved, having removed some of the air pollution and we are sure that made a good example. What we learned The one lesson we learned as a result of our action was that the world is a dangerous place not because of those who do harm, but because of those who look on and let harm be done. Lisandra António, a 7th grade student, said that it was well known that ADPP/EPP taught the students many things for the good of their future and of the future of the country. I particularly enjoyed this action that we undertook in our neighborhood to prevent diseases that are caused by the poor levels of hygiene of the population living in this community. Elcilvio Sebastian said: from the moment I started to study at EPP I learning about taking care ofone s neighbours, and to build that spirit of working in groups always with the aim of helping one another. I like the activities that the school organizes. Perspectives The Principal and the teachers of the school and students must always continue to carry out these activities for the good of the community and teach people who do not realize the importance of cleanliness in the community for their own good.
Olympic Games at EPP Luanda! AJUDA DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DE POVO PARA POVO
EPP LUANDA ANNUAL REPORT 2014 Olympic Games at EPP Luanda! AJUDA DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DE POVO PARA POVO