One Year of Sustainable Classrooms: From a Dream to the Ground in Togo

A year ago, I had just walked across the graduation stage at the University of Idaho, and less than a week later, I filed the paperwork to incorporate Sustainable Classrooms as an official nonprofit. At the time, I couldn’t have imagined where this journey would take me, or just how much heart, community, learning, and resilience would be required to carry it forward.

On May 13th, we quietly celebrated our one-year anniversary as an organization. I had planned to share this update with you then, but life had other plans. After contracting malaria and spending a night in the hospital here in Togo, I was forced to slow down. As David, our translator and teammate, reminded me: “You don’t mess with malaria.” I’m feeling fully recovered and grateful for the care I received, and thankful to be feeling better so I can bring you some good news.

We officially have our final plans for our pilot classroom in Gada-Copé Adekpé—and it feels incredible to see our ideas take shape on paper. These plans are the product of months of collaboration between our local construction partners in Togo and the wonderful engineering team at DCI Engineers in Missoula, Montana. They represent not just a classroom, but a milestone—a physical step forward in co-creating a more sustainable future with the community.

This week, we began sharing the finalized plans with our local partners and stakeholders:

Esse (left) sharing our plans with teachers and headmaster of the school.

• Monday: David and Esse, our lead engineer in Togo, presented the design to our partners at ICPSD. We are so grateful for their continued support and invaluable feedback as we progress our project. ICPSD's insights as local stewards guided us in refining our plans to more effectively meet the needs of the community and the students we aim to work with!

• Tuesday: We met with the Mayor of Kpedomé, who listened, asked thoughtful questions, and gave us our next green light.

• Wednesday: ICPSD joined us on our visit to Gada-Copé Adekpé, and we welcomed volunteers from Amakpapé, who generously filmed footage of our project site. We’ll be sharing that soon. Make sure you’re subscribed to our YouTube channel to follow along.

• Thursday: I had a check-up at the hospital, receiving great news: I’m in the clear and officially back on my feet.

• Friday (Today): We’re in the middle of relocating our home and preparing to restart brick production! We’re finalizing a few last details before moving our machine—and we can’t wait to get it up and running again.

A huge thank you to the Martello Family for sponsoring new shirts for our team and partners, bringing a renewed sense of energy and unity to the work we’re doing on the ground.

This is all a reminder that while progress can feel slow and nonlinear, we’re moving forward with intention, community, and deep gratitude.

David facilitating a class discussion in CE1 (3rd Grade).

What Comes Next—And How You Can Help

With the final plans approved and excitement building, we’re ready to begin constructing the first recycled plastic classroom in Togo. But we need your help to bring it to life.

As we refined the design to better serve the needs of students and teachers, the classroom grew slightly in size. At the same time, costs for materials and transportation have risen, in part due to ripple effects from global tariffs and local inflation. While this wasn’t what we anticipated, we are committed to delivering a durable, functional classroom tailored to the community's vision.

We’re at a turning point.

This is the moment we move from plans on paper to bricks in the ground. And we can’t do it without you.

Your donation today—whether it’s $10 for a recycled plastic brick, $35 for a chalkboard, or more—goes directly toward making this classroom a reality. It fuels the hands-on, community-driven work that’s already underway, ensuring we can keep walking alongside our partners in Togo as we build, learn, and grow together. 

We’re not here for short-term wins. We’re here for long-term, sustainable solutions. We're here for classrooms built not just of plastic bricks, but through partnership, trust, and shared purpose.

If you’ve been waiting for a moment to get involved, this is it.

Thank you for standing with us, believing in this mission, and walking with us as we enter year two.

With gratitude from the ground in Togo,

 Jestine Lackner

Bird's-eye view of Gada-Copé Adekpé. The students (right side) are standing in the land for the future classroom for size reference.

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