Project preparation

Let’s start with some things that everyone should do before even seriously considering trying to implement a construction project Nowadays, there is an endless amount of information available on any topic that concerns construction. Many of it written by very knowledgeable people. The problems is that one often doesn’t know where to start and and lots of topics seem too complicated to begin with. After all the majority of people running various NGOs are no engineers.

Through our videos we try to give a simpler overview and to show the topics so that they are understandable for everyone and to help optimize to process and set priorities. That said, here are some additional resources, internet pages and handbooks that might be helpful. Many of them will be informative, regardless of previous knowledge. The Sphere handbook presents minimum standards for provision of humanitarian relief activity on various topics.

In our case the part about “shelters” is interesting since many of these minimal standards can be applied to an average development cooperation construction project. The handbook is available in more than 30 languages and the latest edition is from 2018. A similar handbook, one from the UN Office for Project Services. It provides various minimal standards as well. It is probably too detailed for the purpose of our projects and, although minimal, these standards might prove to be too hard to achieve for many projects, but it is still very useful even for a quick check.

For example, things like the minimal requirements for toilet facilities in various buildings. When we start going into the topic of materials, the resources are truly endless. CRAterre – International Centre on Earthen Architecture is an amazing resource and a network, especially for the French speakers. It has many publications and endless resources when it comes to earthen construction. The Auroville Earth Institute (AVEI) is a non-profit organization connected with the city of Auroville. The city was founded in the 60s in southern India as a new and experimental city.

The institute specializes in the research, development, promotion and transfer of earth-based building technologies. There is a great overview of all earth construction techniques with useful technical information and photographs Some good books on earthen architecture. The first one “Upscaling Earth,” done by a group of authors and architects, experts on earth architecture who have actually done construction projects in the countries of the Global South. They make a case for earth construction and talk about their experience and how the technology is evolving and present various built and unbuilt projects.

It can be downloaded for free. This book by Martin Rauch goes into detail on how one actually builds with Earth, with various architectural details and drawings. It mostly talks about a high-end earth architecture so it can be informative, but not so implementable in a project of this nature. Another good source, a book from Gernot Minke, explores the whole history of earth architecture and is both technical as well as informative so it’s a good start to get an overview.

There are also various examples of built structures around the world, many of which were designed by the author himself. A different presentation on earth architecture is this 2-volume publication by Ruby Press. The first volume presents the research and the second one is the actual manual, drawn as a comic book. They document a construction of a small 2 story building, nicknamed SUDU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, made out of loam as a primary construction material.

The book explains the complex procedure on how to build such a structure simply, and by doing that demystifies the process. Moving to bamboo, there are probably fewer resources than with earth, but a great and informative book is Building with Bamboo, also from Gernot Minke, giving a great overview on the material, its usage as well as a lot of practical information. Here is a good guide for the engineered Bahareque technique.

It explains the history of the technique, and provides all the detailed information on how it can be best implemented, including an example set of drawings of a typical house. The work was published by the International Bamboo and Rattan Organization INBAR and is available for free online. There are a lot of good resources on the topic of WASH but the Emergency WASH knowledge portal, available for free online in 5 different languages has all the information one may need.

A very good resource of information is the NABEK Handbook, that is also aimed directly at the non-profit sector and the way construction is done as a part of development cooperation and disaster relief. The most interesting part are the well-chosen examples from various projects with very interesting “lessons learned” sections that offer very interesting insights.

Nobody will get an architects diploma by looking at these videos, but if there is something that might actually do the trick, and explain the whole point of architecture to the non-architects, then it’s these two books by the famous Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger. They are written very simply and go through various historical and modern examples to get the point across. And of course there is YouTube. All human knowledge is in there somewhere, one just needs to know what to look for.

When it comes practical videos that can explain how various alternative construction methods actually look in real life – this is definitely the best place to look. If it’s your first project or if it is a new country or a different type of collaboration, don’t be shy to contact other organisations that have been present in that region and have done similar projects.

People in the non-profit sector usually have no time, they have lists of hundreds of unanswered emails, they forget, but in my experience – every single person is willing to help and offer some advice. Send a few emails, call on the phone, be persistent. There is no need that we all repeat the same mistakes and this kind of help can be priceless especially when it comes to questions regarding the budget. Every Challenge we face isn’t new and has surely in the past, been addressed by many other organizations.

There are a few internet pages that serve as hubs and give an overview of construction in development projects around the world. Architecture in development is one of them, presenting various projects but also trying to set up a network of individuals and organisations. It is a good place to start the research, see what other projects are in the target country, or which other German organisations are doing similar work.

This e-learning platform and these videos are also another attempt to establish more networking opportunities and showcase various projects done by different organisations. For a typical construction project, there are numerous roles and participants that are needed to successfully build it according to all the regulations and procedures. Let’s go through the main roles. First of all, the client, in this case the local partner or community. Then there is the project management that manages, oversees and plans the whole process.

After that the architects and engineers that do the planning and drawing of the construction measures. Then a construction company that will do the construction with their internal engineers, as well as various subcontractors. Then there is the independent construction supervision and various external controls that would be very common and necessary in the case of development cooperation. All of these participants, experts in their fields, are also in a way controlling each other, trying to protect their own interest and, through that, checking if someone else has made a mistake.

At the end of the day, they all need to sit down and agree how to solve any challenges that may arise. It is a very complex process, even for very simple buildings. And yet in the case of many non-profit organisations and partnerships, all this is sometimes to be done by only 2-3 people, none of whom are engineers. Even worse, most are doing all this work in their free time after a full workday.

So yes, a lot of expectation one might have are just simply not possible due to the nature of the whole process, shortage of funding and maybe a general misconception on how complicated the construction process really is, if it is done right. What it definitely shouldn’t be, is to be blindly led by the contractors because “they know” and we have no idea how it is to build. This and other videos serve the purpose to at least get informed and enter all future conversations with some more questions at least.

The actual requirements, for most people involved in development cooperation is very clear. Each organisation was founded based on some previous experience or acquaintance, often after a trip through a particular country and after seeing the situation firsthand. Each person knows very well why they are doing a certain project, choosing a particular project and investing time in order to help various underpriviliged communities or individuals. If there is an existing school and the kids are having class outside under a canopy, for example, it is pretty obvious that there is a need for a more proper building.

Still some research should be done and questions should be asked. Where exactly is it located, how do the surroundings look, how does one build there, how does the plot look and then most importantly, how many schools are there in the vicinity, what is their status and how does that compare to the future project. Throughout this process it is extremely important to ask a lot of specific question to the local partner or the members of the community and to have it all in writing so that there are fewer misunderstandings.

Also, if one is to do a project application later on, all of this will be needed anyways. Asking it all before the project really gets going, can prevent many potential misunderstandings. First come the basic things: overview on what are the objectives, what are the challenges and who are the stakeholders. After that the questions of ownership: ownership of the plot, land registry, the current plan of the site and check if it all corresponds to the actual situation.

And finally the legal status of involved parties; there have to be registered entities, usually non-profit associations or their equivalents in both countries in order to apply for funding and to be able to transfer money. It is important to know, who will be responsible for the project as soon as the building is completed. Who will take care of the administration, paying salaries for people working there, organizing it all and maintaining it.

Besides some rare cases where the buildings are fully handed over to the government, the two basic principles are that it is either led by an NGO or the community. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. Community-led projects are usually more transparent, if done properly. It should always be done this way, but there are of course challenges. It is much harder to organize and to assign clear responsibilities. Projects led by various NGOs, are often more structured and stabled.

This approach is often set up as a social business where the organisations are more invested that it all works since their own income and existence depends on it. There are many buildings and schools that are in bad condition, half open, half falling apart, some are even open-air, but despite all that in most of them the classes are held normally; kids can still attend. It all somehow works if the system behind it is set up well. The teachers and the school directors are the most important ones after all.

In that sense, it is important, before starting with a construction– which is usually the most expensive and complicated part of any project– to ask everyone involved, should we actually build, or reconstruct or maybe it is actually more effective to tackle other topics and challenges for the time being.

Various statistics going around the internet claim that 75% of communications that are received are interpreted incorrectly and that 50% of all Emails are misunderstood. I don’t know if these statistics are correct, but they don’t feel wrong. Communication between the partners is at the core of any development cooperation project and it is the most imperfect one. When adding in cultural differences, different languages, bad internet connections, it is a wonder that in the project where we all partake, any information gets across and anything gets done.

Of course, the whole process doesn’t even get off the ground without meeting in person and spending a lot of time together. Like this, we can learn how other people think and talk, but still at some point the communication will move back online and it might often feel like this photo for all parties. What one can do is be patient, talk a lot and then talk some more; have as much as possible in writing especially when it comes to important decisions and to learn to recognize misunderstandings before they happen.

The rule of thumb is that if there is a meeting and everyone agrees unanimously, there was a misunderstanding in there somewhere. There are various expectations from both sides and we should make sure that we are on the same page. So there are deadlines and everyone should know what the realistic timeplans are, either when it comes to the fundraising or when the construction starts. Construction Methods: Lots of times, there are differing opinions especially once the talk about alternative materials starts to happen.

It is very rare that the partner organisation or the local community actually believes that building out of earth is great idea. It’s important to discuss it. Everything to do with the budget and financing is always the main topic: total costs, payment plans and mutual support in this long process. Fundraising is extremely hard and can take ages, many years even, and this should be made clear. Extent of mutual support according to the capacity of all involved parties. What does each side bring to the project?

Everyone involved should feel that the other side is doing their all. Standard equipment: what are the expectation on both sides? Sometimes a school like this is perfectly enough, sometimes a higher standard is demanded. It’s important that everyone agrees on the priorities. There are always big dreams from local partner organisations. Multiple stories, many different project components, huge complexes built to a high standard. And that’s great, it is important to have a larger goal. What should be made clear is that even the smallest amount of funding is hard to get.

Thus, the projects have to start small and then hopefully expand over time in small increments. Let’s take this street library as an example. This is basically a storage room with a covered outdoor space where kids can read. Not a big investment. If this project then proves it works and shows an impact, one can start thinking about building a bigger library. The full program should be very clearly be agreed upon from the beginning. It may be a very long process that requires further discussions with the community.

There should be a deep analysis of what the needs are and how they can be met with the least possible amount of construction. That is the key, since it easy to get carried away on paper which may lead to unrealistic expectations that cannot be financed. In that regard, it is very important to plan the construction projects in phases, and in this case, phases should be split into chunks that are actually financeable. For most organisations, that would fall between 50,000 to 100,000 Euros.

All of this needs to be shown on a site plan that shows the whole plot and the future phases, showing the long-term plan. When there is a lot of space on the plot, the buildings can be spread out horizontally and phasing can be done very clearly. With multi-story buildings, it is more complicated, but nevertheless doable.

Choosing a partner or a particular project should be done very carefully, taking many things into consideration. Having two strong and equal partners with clear ideas and goals is obviously the way to go, but of course not very easy to always achieve. And this is not only about equality; having clear goals leads to quicker process,which matters in construction projects that are by their nature already very long – they don’t need a slow decision-making process to stand in the way.

Yes this may lead to some heated discussions and disagreements, (maybe even some projects don’t proceed because of that), but overall it leads to better projects. Something that might help in the initial stage is this “Power awareness tool” developed by a Dutch association, Partos. The association unites more than 100 Dutch development organisations. It is fairly obvious that there is a power inequality and where it comes from. One partner is usually responsible for funding through applications and other fundraising activities.

The other side, in this case the organisation in the Global South, is then often in the situation where it is expected they should agree with everything. Here on this diagram one can see 5 different levels of decision making, from full exclusion to having the last say on all topics. Here is an explanation on why a tool is needed, and basically this tool is nothing more than an excel sheet that should be filled out by all partners.

But by making it all visible and written on a piece of paper, it becomes more obvious to all sides what the actual status of the partnership is. This is how it looks. Just a basic list of decisions and who decides them. And maybe in some partnerships it isn’t possible, maybe not even necessary, to achieve the highest level of participation of both sides, but what is definitely useful is to make it clear what kind of a partnership it is.

A German equivalent to Partos would be VENRO, the federal association of around 140 development-policy and humanitarian NGOs. On their webpage one can find various publication, resources, training offers as well as their own e-learning platform that tackle various topics laid out in these guidelines. As one can see a lot of it is about equality, human rights, empowerment, knowledge transfer – all crucial topics when forming good partnerships between organisations and can surely help improve that process.

At the end of this video, there is a short presentation of three organisations and their stories, which are exemplary non-profit organisations deserving of support in the field of construction. It is a very random selection, based on who we have partnered with, or whose work we’ve followed. There are surely thousands of others doing similar inspirational work. Eduspots is an organisation We-Building has partnered with in order to do design and project supervision for the construction of a library in Elmina, Ghana.

Within their work, new construction is very rare; mostly, existing buildings are used, or are renovated. Here is their story. Eduspots exists to enable students, teachers, and community members to come together to create change in their communities through education. We believe that everyone has the capacity to effect change. Since 2015, Eduspots has brought together over 500 volunteers in Ghana and the UK to build and support 44 community-led education centers and libraries.

based in 15 regions of Ghana, alongside projects in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Zambia These spots allow communitites to solve local problems through education and volunteerism. Many spots are open in the evenings and weekends, providing a space for over 15,000 students of all ages to access educational resources and support for free. Solar power allows some projects to be beacons of light during periods of light out. Across our network, volunteers are bringing the spots alive.

by leading vibrant clubs, driven by local inspirations Some of these are the literacy, science, mentoring environmental, drama, hockey, and arts clubs. Volunteers share their ideas regularly through whatsapp groups and in-person conferences. Seeing others lead this change inspires us to act with our online courses and global partnership projects enabling us all to grow further Our community leadership in education program invites selective catalysts from the network to grow their leadership skills as a group, while driving the impact of their spots.

This impact is driven by local interests while building global understanding. In Eduspots, our motto is Our Collective Future This is because we have seen that by sharing ideas and working together we can use our centers as a tool for social change at significant scale, ultimately creating a fairer future for all through the power of education.

The next organisation is Semillas Peru a very well-known, especially among architects, non-profit. They specialize in cooperation projects and supports various rural communities in Peru. We-Building has partnered with them on a number of projects to help out with fundraising. Here is a video talking about one of their projects explaining why a new building is needed. Good morning, my name is Talia Calderón Guevara I’m the student Heinzen Camacho Zaquinaula I’m here to talk to you a little about our experience in the residence.

Welcome to our village, San José de Lourdes It’s a rural zone, where coffee is grown Our students come from different villages, none of which have a secondary school. We see the importance of having a student residence Our educational institution has about 450 students. of which 100 approximately live in the residence. Coming here on foot takes a long time, more than half a day. up to 2.5 hours walking. Sometimes when it rains, the trail turns messy and makes it difficult to get here.

The whole infrastructure was built by the parents a long time ago. The walls were made of earth and adobe In 2020 there was a strong earthquake, which affects us greatly. It could collapse at any time. We’ve already seen it happen. Basically, it doesn’t guarantee the safety of our students It’s a worrying situation. The spaces are inadequate due to rising numbers of students. The dire state of the residence hasn’t allowed us to perform our activities.

The villagers started worrying about their children’s education and gifted us the land to build the new residence My dream is to host many more rural students who hope to complete their secondary education. We haven’t lost hope that our residence will be built. And the last video presents the work of Dream Big Ghana an NGO trying to bring about change particularly with sanitation. This is a big topic and something that doesn’t happen without new construction so it is worth it to talk about it and optimize the process, and connect with organisations like theirs who already do a lot.

Here is a short overview of their activities. Dream Big Ghana NGO is a community development organisation working in Dzita and Agbledomi We are into Education, Sanitation and Youth Sports Development Our Sanitation Programs primarily focus on the construction and sustainable management of EcoSan Toilets which we have been doing for over 10 years. As of August 2021 we have constructed 127 EcoSan Toilets for households. We’ve constructed two school EcoSan Toilet blocks. And also rehabilitated and repurposed old KVIPs (Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit) into EcoSan Toilets for two other schools.

So, welcome to our sanitation program. Toilet before renovation Toilet after renovation Tiled floors to ease cleaning Menstrual hygiene management spaces Urinals to separate urine and faeces So, after every 6 months the closed chamber should be ready to be cracked open so I’m opening this one now, as you can see you can even take your nose closer because you can’t smell anything it’s not smelly at all The management of compost toilets is easy for me Compost toilets, as we see, the urine goes to one side and defecation to another side Since water is not mixing with the defecation it’s not producing much scent.

After using sawdust, you close it for six months the sawdust and faecal matter will mix and compost and can be used as manure for farmers. Farmers around you can easily use it instead of fowl droppings. As an assemblyman for Dzita Electoral Area I have seen a lot when it comes to open defecation in my community. With the introduction of the EcoSan project by Dream Big Ghana it’s refreshing seeing my community people using this facility. People are comfortable using it the level at which people defecate around has reduced drastically. This warms my heart I even recommend this type of project to other communities. to also have a feel of what we have in Dzita.