Upcyling and recycling

Rice is a staple food in East Africa, and you can find rice sacks wherever you look. Rather than throwing them away, we re-use them to make colourful posters and informative charts for the classroom. We also use them to create durable book covers for books made by the teachers. Books and other reading materials are noticeably missing from most classrooms.

The Redearth team are now experts at building nursery playhouses out of bamboo sticks and dried papyrus reeds - both very versatile. We train local teachers in how to make these upcycled playhouses for their own classrooms. We even decorate the inside, from folds of coloured crape paper to toy radios made from cardboard.

Cardboard is used to make all sorts of fantastic aids that help children become more independent learners. This includes masks for role-play activities, games like bingo, and faux "slates" for children to practice writing on instead of using the mud floors. We even make pretend shops, where children can play & practice their numeracy, language and social skills.