This is an incredible school redesign story.
In Bangladesh, 20% of the country goes underwater each year. Severe flooding prevents students from attending school for a good portion of time. In any given year, dozens if not hundreds of schools are destroyed. Even more schools are shut down because kids cannot get to school.
In Easy Like Water, filmmaker Glenn Baker shares the inspirational story of how a community came together to build solar-powered floating schools. Not only can students attend school year-round, they can take part in digital learning. See for yourself:
“Showing people overcoming adversity with do-it-yourself innovations and old-fashioned courage, the film has universal appeal to anyone looking for inspiration in these challenging times,” Baker said. “Many people feel helpless about the climate change issue, and the subject usually invokes images of victims in developing countries. Easy Like Water turns that stereotype on its head: it shows citizens in a poor, Muslim country taking charge of their destiny. And it shows how climate change is our mutual challenge, as citizens of a planet where the skies and oceans are all connected. This story will show audiences their actions and voices can make a difference.” Read the full interview.
This story compelled me to think—and I hope you, too—that design thinking and community support can go a very long way in helping schools. American schools have great challenges, too, and access to a good education is certainly big one.
What can we do with a little ingenuity?