The Chair El Hamra school serves a deprived area of Casablanca where nearly 90% of its 380 pupils live in a shantytown. For them, education is both a way to escape the hardship of daily life and a passport to a better future. The Let’s Colour project wanted to help them feel comfortable and happy in their school by adding a splash of colour to deteriorating walls and refurbishing its green spaces.
So, in September 2011, 80 Let’s Colour project volunteers set to work, helping the teachers and students transform their school into a more colourful, greener place of learning. The children particularly enjoyed drawing environmentally inspired pictures on the walls, which the team then painted in beautiful colours. “Naturally, we used environmentally friendly paints from Astral. We also planted trees and grass in the school garden and built a wall around an old well to make it safer for the children – which they then painted in more bright colours.” said Chakib Lazrak of the Let’s Colour project.
“This has really given a boost to the school and its community. We have had very positive coverage in local newspapers and national TV will soon broadcast the story. Most importantly” concludes Lazrak, “the children and teachers are happier – and that makes learning fun and more effective.”
Find out more about Astral in Morocco here.
