It's much easier to learn in a comfortable environment. Now, thanks to the generosity of local benefactors, two schools in the Almancil area can offer improved facilities for their pupils, in the shape of modern air conditioning systems.

The two schools couldn't be more different. Asas para Amanhis a national charity project offering education and activity programmes for underprivileged children. In Almancil, next to the GNR police station, it offers PC/internet-based learning facilities, but its small glass-fronted classroom had been suffering extremes of temperature from the summer heat to the winter cold. Now, thanks to a local benefactor and under the auspices of the ACCA charity, the classroom has a brand new air conditioning system, installed by Penguin Air Conditioning.

Sanda Ciorba, Coordinator of the centre, commented: "We provide local children from poor backgrounds with access to an educational resource. But in a small classroom crammed with kids and PCs, the heat during summer was almost unbearable. We're very grateful to ACCA and to Penguin for their generosity."

In contrast, on the other side of town, the International School São Lourenço is a long-established English-run institution offering complete education for many expatriate children in the 'Golden Triangle' area, with around 180 full-time pupils from infants through to A-Level students. Beyond its main hall and administration buildings, the school is mostly comprised of portacabin-style classrooms, which suffer from extremes of heat and cold. Now, thanks to the generosity of a parent, all buildings have been equipped with a total of no less than 15 air conditioning systems, again installed by Penguin, who offered their time and expertise to oversee the project.

Headmaster Terry McGuire expressed his gratitude to all concerned: "As a not-for-profit institution it is sometimes very difficult to access good-quality resources. However, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of a parent, together with the invaluable project guidance and installation assistance from Penguin, the school now offers a more comfortable environment throughout, which will significantly aid the learning process for all our pupils." 

Penguin's Director, Chris Blackburn, commented: "In the case of both schools it was appreciated by the benefactors that such initiatives must be financed on a normal commercial basis, but we were nonetheless pleased to volunteer our time and technical skills to acquire the systems and install them to professional standards. In the case of São Lourenço, we're also pleased to say that we rose to the challenge: daily lessons couldn't be interrupted, so with the help of the school's maintenance manager and several parent volunteers, we managed to install all 15 systems in just one day on a weekend hopefully earning us an A-plus!".