Moodubelle: Renovation of St. Lawrence High School Building

Report and Pictures by: Avith Lobo, Doha
Bellevision Media Network

Doha, 08 June 2010: I was back home in Moodubelle from Doha this May for few days. During this period, i had an opportunity  to meet Fr.Paul Sequiera, Principal of St. Lawrence Composite PU College. Following my meeting with him, Fr. Paul suggested to me that i could capture some of the images of the latest developments in the high school-college campus. First of all, Fr. Paul drew my attention to the renovation of the roof of the old high school building. This building is around 50 years old and its wooden support beems and thin wooden strips supporting the tiles had become quite weak due to weathering and had to be replaced. The workers were removing the tiles and replacing the old wood with the new ones in order to restrengthen the roof. Fr. Paul pointed out that this is the Golden Jubilee project and the estimated cost for  the renovation of the roof would be  around Rs 2 lakh. However, he further said that the cost may exceed once entire renovation work is completed. This original high school building consists of 6 rooms and it reminded me that the parishioners, fifty years ago had put in hard work who with the minimal resources could put up such a strong  structure and now it is our duty to keep it in a good shape.

Next, Fr. Paul showed me the water drainage system behind the old high school  building. Some innovative ideas have been used for water harvesting. The rain water from this building roof is let down through the drainage which passes through a small pond filled with charcoal to filter any dirt from the water, then the filtered water flows into an old ground well which is now covered.  By any chance if the well overflows there is a relief duct which directs the excess water from well to the ground below. This is a practical example for the students of the highs school and PU College to understand how rain-water can be harvested for future use.

 

Behind the old high school building, i came across a garden with medicinal plants. The empty area here with the boundary around is used to cultivate medicinal plants. This would help in creating awareness among the students on the healing properties of the plants.
 
Fr. Paul also drew my attention to the firewood shed. The reason to build this shed was to avoid any theft and also to avoid piling up firewood in open in front of the ground. This shed will also help in protecting the firewood from getting wet especially during the monsoon season.  Fr. Paul pointed out that the empty space next to the old ground could be used for any futre development of the school-college campus.

It has been around twelve  years since I left St. Lawrencee High School. However, during the past twelve years, the high school and PU College have made treemendous progress. It is indeed a great joy to the old students like me to see new developments in and around our old school campus. I felt extremely happy to spend some time in my beloved alma mater and in the company of its present dynamic and progressive Principal, Fr. Paul Sequeira.