Upon request from the village captains of Curuni and Amatopo, the FOREST93 project initiated the building of multi-purpose school buildings in these two villages in South Suriname.
These two small villages are inhabited by people of the Trio tribe, and are amongst the last villages that never received education. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture supports the project, meaning that the government will provide the needed school material and teachers to the two villages.
The building process for the schools started in November 2021 with the first phase of selecting and collecting building materials around the village, including sawing of wood for the wooden school construction. The local community is actively involved in the project and provides support wherever they can. In January phase 2 started, meaning the start of the construction of the school building. Next to the school, also housing for the teaching staff will be organized by the Ministry of Education.
Many thanks to Amazon Rainforest Retreat, Dean Gorré, Julius de Boer, Marcel Boudesteijn and Rotary Club Paramaribo Central for their support and advice around the project. Also, a big thank you to the representatives of the Ministry of Education who are actively involved in getting this project done.
On August 31st the school building was officially opened in Amatopo. In attendance were the Granman of the Tareno tribe, Jimmy Toeroemang, Head captain of Amatopo Peppoe, Captain of Amatopo Paneshi, representatives of the Ministry of Education and the board of GGS. Minister of Education, Marie Levens, send a special video message to the community, congratulating them with the new school and thanking the successful partnership model that made “Education on Location” possible. The Ministry, the Trio community and GGS worked together in the project.
On January 28th the second school, in Coeroeni, was opened by a delegation of the Trio: Granman of the Tareno tribe, Jimmy Toeroemang, the captains of Amatopo, Head captain Akuupashi Toenhanp, captain Koronu Toehanpe as well as a delegation from the Ministry of Education and Green Growth Suriname Foundation. Mr. Dean Gorré, Global Forest93 Ambassador also traveled to this village in the south-west of Suriname to be part of the joyous moment. Together with the children in the village the school opening was celebrated in a cultural fashion, with dance, sharing of food and lots of happy faces.
See some media coverage of the building process:
20 January in United News: Het inheemse dorp Coeroeni in het district Sipaliwini heeft nu ook haar eigen schoolgebouw
20 January in SRHerald: Coeroeni heeft eigen basisschool
20 January 2023 in GFC Nieuws: Coeroeni heeft eigen basisschool
03 September 2022 in DWT Online: Trio-gemeenschap heeft eigen lagere school
03 September 2022 in SUN: Pre-opening lagere school inheems dorp Amatopo
03 September 2022 in STVS: Lagere school Amatopo feestelijk geopend
21 July 2022 in United Nieuws: Samenwerking in PPP verband levert nieuwe school op in Amatopo
6 February 2022 in Dagblad Suriname: Delegatie ministerie OW+C bezoekt inheemse dorpen Coeroeni en Amatopo in verband met bouw scholen
6 February 2022 in Starnieuws: Amatopo en Coeroeni in Zuid Suriname krijgen een school
6 February 2022 in De Ware Tijd Online: Amatopo en Coeroeni krijgen school
14 December 2021 in Starnieuws: Problemen onderwijs in binnenland gecompliceerd
Amatopo 
Materials 
Collection materials 
Amatopo village 
Step 1 floor construction 
Step 2 set up of building 
Building starting to come together 
O.S. Amatopo 
Curuni 
stap 1 vloerconstructie 
stap 1 vloer 
stap 2 opzet gebouw 
stap 3 muren vh gebouw 
stap 4 indeling vh gebouw 
stap 5 gebouw bijna klaar 
Opening school Coeroeni 
O.S. Coeroeni 
Naambord onthuld 
Happy kids
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