Training & Builder Support

At Build IT International we take enormous pleasure in equipping people with the skills to take charge of their lives.

We don’t just build schools – each project is used to train up to 20 unskilled, carefully selected young men and women in basic building skills. They are all from the local community. This will help them earn an income and continue expanding their school facilities. What’s more, the training prepares them for a nationally recognised trades certificate.

Each trainee spends three months on the programme. For the first three weeks, they mix short classroom sessions with on-site work. After that, eight weeks work experience is gained under the direction of our contractor. A small allowance is paid to cover essential costs and each trainee is provided with overalls, boots and a helmet. A short refresher course then completes the programme.

In December 2009, our first 23 trainees all passed their independent assessments and are now qualified brick-layers. They also have certificates of competence in soil block making and tile manufacturing. Finally, they are given a set of basic tools.

And then what? Well, we don’t abandon our trainees. Once they are trained the project contactor still has to finish the building and will hire some of the newly qualified brick-layers. This helps them to start their portfolio of experience. We are also preparing follow up workshops on finding a job and starting up a small business.

In 2010, we intend to launch a Builder Support Network. This will enable to keep in touch with all our trainees and contractors so that we can:

• Monitor their progress
• Pass their details on to potential clients
• Share experiences so that we can improve our programme
• Assist them to access block and tile making machines

We aim to show that, when designed and managed well, building projects can be used to create opportunities to earn a decent living, and we think our building projects are doing just that!