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The Project Story
 
The Aachen Story
A "Bauwagen" stands in the schoolyard. In it there are children creating art through drawing, pasting and writing. Their topic: How can our schoolyard become more beautiful? The learner´s "Bauwagen" contains all means and tools to execute the ideas from learners, parents and teachers in a concrete manner. But what is this all about?? The Bauwagen literally means a "building wagon", but can be described as a caravan or trailer which is taken from school to school to assist with renewing the schoolyards in and around Aachen. This project is implemented in Aachen by Stadtoasen (meaning city oasis) and it promots ecological and social sustainability in the sense of Agenda 21. On the one side the social integration within the school is promoted, but in addition to this trees and bushes are planted, walls are greened and school gardens are laid out, biotopes are created and playground equipment is constructed by children, parents and teachers together with the specialists from Stadtoasen.
This project has been running in Aachen since 2003 and has been implemented in 17 schools around Aachen by Stadtoasen with the kind assistance of the foundation of environment and development of North-Rhein-Westfalia, the ministery of building,housing and traffic and a lot of sponsors (firms, banks, insurance-companies) and the local governments.
The Cape Town Story
During 2003 it was felt that the concept of the Bauwagen should be transferred and adapted for implementation in the townships of the Cape Flats. The aim is to encourage children to participate in the planning and implementation of projects. A decrease in vandalism, more responsibility and a meaningful activity for the school breaks should be reached and in addition to this it is useful to grow fruits and learn gardening skills.
2004
The first project phase took place from April to June 2004 when Mbuso Shando and Nosisa Merile visited Aachen to learn more about the project. During their three month visit in Aachen they learnt about the Bauwagen concept and interactive way to works with the children. In the second project phase (September - November 2004) Sven Daniels and Helene Hüttinger from Aachen visited Khayelitsha for three months to support the adoption and implementation of the Bauwagen concept. They developed suggestions for fundraising and implementation of the projects together with the staff from SEED and Abalimi. The first project was implemented at Zenzeleni School for Creative Education in Khayelitsha.
2005
At the University of Aachen a competition of architecture students took place to draw a plan for the renewal of the schoolyard of the Khuyasa Primary School in Kahyelitsha, which had been chosen by the 2004-volunteers Mbuso Shando and Nosisa Merile to be the next school for a bauwagen-project. Overall 8 drawings have been made by student-teams and the two sisters Irene and Helene Huettinger won the competition. The drawing was sent to the Khuyasa Primary School to make all preparations needed for the next Bauwagen-project
2006
From March until May 2006 the next two volunteers - Holle Wlokas and Bastian Wyink - from Aachen were send to Cape Town to continue with a new “Bauwagen-project“ at the Khuyasa Primary School in Khayelitsha. But when the volunteers arrived, the government just started to build new classrooms at the schoolyard – working there was impossible. But the volunteers found another school to join the project – the K1 Special School, which had already applied for the first project in 2004.
2007
The South African popband Freshlyground could be won for a benefit performance for the upcoming Bauwagen-goes-South-project during their tour throughout Europe. The concert took place at Brueckenkopfpark in Juelich (25 kms from Aachen) at the 9th of August. Unfortunately it rained cats and dogs (80 litres per square meter), so that only 250 visitors came to the concert and we couldn´t earn any money for the project.
The new project manager from SEED, Talfryn Harris, visited Aachen in October to learn more about the typical Bauwagen-projects in Germany. He worked actively together with the Stadtoasen-team at the renewal of a schoolyard at the Goethe-School (a secondary school) in a small town called Baesweiler. He also prepared the new volunteers for the work which they will have to do in Cape Town. In November the project manager from Stadtoasen, Norbert Kuntz, visited Cape Town to talk with all stakeholders in the project and to sign a contract with them at the next school – Fairview Primary - which has been selected for the project in 2008.
2008
During the project at Fairview Primary School between March and May the two volunteers Melina Frese and Inka Mertes constructed a texture path together with the schoolkids. The path consists of two areas to feel the texture with bare feet and some high beds alongside the path with herbs to smell, fumble and taste the different species. The path helps the blind people of the neighboring LOFOB (league for the blind) and the non-blind kids from Fairview Primary to develop their senses.
Furthermore the volunteers established together with the teachers and housekeepers a few vegetable gardens, an open-air classroom and a playground with a see-saw and two swings.
In co-operation with two artists from Guglethu the kids and the two Germans created a mural on a wall alongside the garden.
The Fairview Primary School also started a partnership with the primary school Am Lousberg in Aachen and – the kids of both schools are have a regularly e-mail and letter-contact to each other now!
To cement the partnerschip between teh two schools and to sign a partnership-contract Stadtoasen e.V. invited Aubrey de Wet – the principal of Fairview Primary School – in October to Aachen . Mr. de Wet took part in different lessons in grade four and gave some little presents and quite a number of letters to the learners of the school Am Lousberg. Especially the English- and Music-Lessons with the teacher from Cape Town were a big experience for the school-kids. At the end of the week he had to write down a lot of patters into the poetry albums of the girls in the class.
Then he and Mrs Slupina-Kasties – the principal of school Am Lousberg - had to sign the Memorandum of Agreement between the two schools to seal the partnership.
2009
The upcoming project titled colOURed busSTOPs will take place from March to May in the coloured Suburb Manenberg. Norbert Kuntz and Uta-Göbel Groß will work with kids and youth from Phoenix High School. The idea is to paint Busstops at Lansdownroad in the area of Edith Stevens Wetland Park and to build a meeting-point for the youth in an open public area in the heart of Manenberg.
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