Love The Oceans is a Non-Profit Marine Conservation Organisation working in Guinjata, Mozambique (lovetheoceans.org). We use research, education and diving to drive action towards a more sustainable future. Our mission is to establish a Marine Protected Area in Inhambane, through a bottom-up, community-led approach. The MPA needs to be community managed and we work closely with the local community, teaching about the marine environment, upskilling and encouraging sustainable living.

Every year we hold meetings with the community Elders and discuss what is needed at each school we support. We work with 2 local schools: Guinjata School (500+ kids) and Paindane School (1000+ kids), which teach kids between the ages of 6 - 13 years old.

The Elders have said that at the moment building classrooms is their priority. The Government has stated that when a school gets to 10 solid classrooms it will provide the school with teachers and equipment to turn it into an secondary school (13 - 16 years old). At the moment our closest secondary school is 2 hours walk and many kids do not attend because of the distance. If we can establish these schools as secondary schools it would ensure secondary education for many children and families in the area, opening up new job opportunities and alleviating poverty. Guinjata School currently has 6 brick classrooms and Paindane has 7.

Love The Oceans is an ethical volunteering organisation and while we take volunteers to help with our community work and research, we don't believe in taking jobs away from the local community. For this reason our volunteers just do cosmetic (painting) work and we employ a team of local builders to build structurally sound classrooms and source all our materials locally. This means every penny you donate goes directly into the local community.

One new classroom costs approximately £2000 to build from scratch - foundations, floor, brick, cement, plastering, ceiling beams, roof sheets, burglar bars & painting. Below is a breakdown of approximate costs so you know how much your money buys:

A desk to seat 3 children (classes of 50) - £55

20L bucket of white paint (covers one classroom) - £25

Sheet of metal (roofing) - £5

Cement Bag - £4 (need approx. 20 to lay a floor/plaster a wall)

Colour tint for paint - £4

As little or as much as you can give will be very much appreciated! If you think you'll be charged international transaction fees, you can also donate through PayPal on our website: https://lovetheoceans.org/want-to-help/donate/