Completed
Primary School for indigenous village, Coeroeni
After Amatopo, a second primary school was built in the neighbouring Trio village of Coeroeni, bringing roughly 30 children into formal education without leaving their families.
Following the success in Amatopo, a second primary school was established in January 2023 in the neighbouring indigenous Trio village of Coeroeni, in south-western Suriname. Historically isolated from formal educational infrastructure, the children of Coeroeni previously lacked any access to localised schooling.
This project was executed through the same three-way collaboration between the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (MinOWC), the Green Growth Suriname Foundation (GGS) and the local indigenous community. A defining feature of the Coeroeni initiative was the intense voluntary mobilisation of the local community, driven by a shared vision to empower their youth as future leaders. The initiative was heavily championed by GGS Ambassador Dean Gorré, who raised critical support for building materials, uniforms and educational supplies.
The school celebrated its official opening on 31 January 2023, bringing roughly 30 indigenous children into the formal education system for the very first time. By removing the need for young children to leave their families to study, the Coeroeni school established vital educational infrastructure while keeping families together and preserving the community’s cultural fabric.
The first school was built in the neighbouring village of Amatopo — see Primary School for indigenous village, Amatopo.
In the press
- 20 January 2023, United News: Het inheemse dorp Coeroeni in het district Sipaliwini heeft nu ook haar eigen schoolgebouw
- 20 January 2023, SRHerald and GFC Nieuws: Coeroeni heeft eigen basisschool
- 6 February 2022, Starnieuws and De Ware Tijd: Amatopo en Coeroeni krijgen een school
How it unfolded
Children in Paramaribo help children in Amatopo and Coeroeni get school supplies
The Green Growth Activity, Detective and Savings Booklet for Amatopo and Curuni was developed under the Green Growth Kids programme. Groups 5 and 6 of Nassy Brouwer Primary School and Stap Vooruit Primary School in Paramaribo each received a lesson about indigenous people in Suriname, in which Green Growth Suriname board members explained how the children in Amatopo and Curuni live, what they live on and what they do daily. The children in Paramaribo were asked to each save for a child in Amatopo or Curuni by completing the tasks in the booklet. With the payments for the tasks, each child saved SRD 350 — enough to provide every child at the schools in Amatopo and Curuni with a filled school bag and uniform, so that they could go to school proudly once the school opened.
The school in Coeroeni opens
The second school was opened by a delegation of the Trio: Granman Jimmy Toeroemang, head captain Akuupashi Toenhanp and captain Koronu Toehanpe, together with the Ministry of Education and the Green Growth Suriname Foundation. Global Ambassador Dean Gorré travelled to the village for the occasion. With the children, the opening was celebrated with dance, shared food and lots of happy faces.
Children get acquainted with school during school camps
The public school in Coeroeni was pre-opened in January, but the formal school year in Suriname starts every 1 October. To prepare the children for school, three school camps were organised with the help of volunteer teachers, introducing them to school and to the national anthem. Between March and June 2023 the children attended these camps.
Solar energy for the school
The school received its own solar energy system, so teachers can use beamers, electronic media and wifi in their lessons, and evening classes no longer end when the daylight does.
Contributors
The ambassadors who worked on this project, and what each of them did.
Dean Gorré
Supporter and adviser
Raised funds for the school build, and travelled to Coeroeni to celebrate the opening with the community.
