Nawamis School

Description

In 2008 a small concrete school building was financed and constructed entirely by the Bedouin villagers of Nawamis.  They were determined to have their own school as their children had to travel long distances to a school on the coast.  They asked the Makhad Trust to help them to set up and finance this school and the Nawamis Project began to evolve. 

The school will provide for all the children in adjacent villages and will become the first indigenous school in the country. It will also cater for many of the deaf children in the Muzeina tribe who currently receive no education.  As well as core subjects including the use of computers, expertise will be brought in to teach the children about the local ecology and their traditions.  This will make their education more relevant to the children.   

As the school is in the centre of the Nawamis complex with its adjacent camel station the children will remain a part of their village community as well as experiencing the wider world of the visitors.  

The school will be supported through the economy based on the Desert Tent and the Camel Station. 

Phase 2 of the Project will see the construction of a circular accommodation block for students who live too far away to travel each day.     

Purpose

To provide a village school for the Nawamis children which gives them an education relevant to their lives in the desert. 

Beneficiaries

Bedouin children in the Nawamis area
Deaf Muzeina children from the wider area of South Sinai 

Status

The concrete building has been clad in local stone to match the other buildings and the roof made higher and covered to protect it from the heat.  The outside teaching tent and surrounding buildings will be completed by the end of 2009. Once the inside is furnished the Makhad Trust will seek the assistance of a local organisation to set up and establish the school.

children working at the school