In November 2018, we completed a set of infrastructure improvements to the Bophirima Primary School, in Gaborone, Botswana. This video short shows you what that really means.
Prior, the school area had limited pedestrian facilities or safety measures in place, leaving children vulnerable: in the previous year alone, two children were injured there during their daily commutes. Take a look at the series of pedestrian crossings, speed management measures, delineation, pedestrian paths, and vertical signs that we installed — it’s easy to understand the difference. In particular, check out the aerial view at minute 1:00 to get the big picture.
Sponsored by Fed Ex, the project adheres to Amend’s School Area Road Assessment and Improvement (SARSAI) program, which involves area data collection, engineering analysis, and community outreach.
The November 20, 2018, ribbon-cutting event was attended by students, parents, and numerous local leaders and road safety advocates and experts, including members of Botswana’s Parliament and staff from the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Road Assessment Programme (iRap), and FedEx.
In January this year, iRap’s Star Rating for Schools App scored the affected areas: each went from two and three stars before the interventions to four and five stars (the top ratings) afterward, indicating huge safety improvements for the schoolchildren. (See the iRap report here.)
We will continue to collect data from the Bophirima site, which will help form future interventions and provide healthy, safe journeys there and at other schools throughout developing nations.
