Blog: Paul Chitty MCIOB swaps Sussex for Zambia with VSO

Paul Chitty MCIOB has swapped Chichester, Sussex for a two year VSO placement in Zambia, helping a local college to develop skills in house-building as part of VSO’s “Sustainable Livelihoods” programme. One month into the role, he describes protracted site processes with a worthwhile goal.

I had felt for some time that we would like to live abroad at some point in our lives. Our children were becoming independent and we had a pool of experience that we felt we might be able to pass on to others. I have always worked in the building industry (working as a site and later contract manager, mainly in the housebuilding sector, and latterly training other managers to achieve NVQs), while my wife Jane is an art teacher. We contacted Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) and they offered me a position in Zambia, working for Chodort College on a two year placement. I recently achieved MCIOB via the EPA route, and this undoubtedly helped me to gain my position with VSO, who prefer their volunteers to have a degree level qualification.

Paul with his trainee Odin outsite the first and second houses

Chodort Courtyard

It’s quite difficult to get two placements together in the same area so we accepted the offer in the hope that Jane could find work once we were in the country. In fact Jane has become involved with the United Church of Zambia Orphans Committee, and also hopes to teach crafts in a local museum in the near future, helping women to create a sustainable livelihood.

Chodort College is run by a Christian charity linked to the United Church of Zambia. It is very progressive and teaches basic building skills, tailoring and IT. There is also a joinery shop that makes bespoke furniture and kitchen units for sale to the public. The profits from this subsidise the students’ fees. Funds for the most part are raised in Dortmund, Germany but also Ireland and England to a lesser extent. Through this, they have managed to acquire land near to the college on which houses are being constructed. These are desperately needed, as many people in Zambia live in appalling conditions. My main role is to supervise the buildings works and raise standards. I am also mentoring one of the students to take over the role once I return to the UK. I have also been asked to teach management skills to others and help in fund-raising for the college. You have to be multi-skilled over here!

Roadside co-operative woodcarving stall

The challenges of building here are immense and require a change of mind-set. There is no machinery available but there is a huge amount of labour looking for work. Therefore, everything is done by hand and this can become protracted. For instance, if you want to make concrete, you first have to go and find the ballast. This involves breaking local rocks down to the right size aggregate and buying river sand to mix in and then bring it back to the site to add to the cement to final mix and lay. The materials are either selected on the site or purchased form local people who sell the rocks at the roadside. These can be pre-prepared or processed on site by our own labour.

Blockmaking for the site

Blockmaking machine at Chodort College

Having said that, the college has recently acquired a block-making machine which was donated by the charity in Germany. All the materials are procured as above and then blocks mad on the campus before being transferred to the site for use on the new houses. I’ve only been here four weeks but already the work is very regarding and worthwhile. The people on site are very friendly and eager to progress their skills and knowledge. I have a lot to learn from them as well and this is already helping to expand my experience. For instance, I am used to water being laid from an existing supply with support from the Water Board. Here we have to locate a supply on site, drill a bore hole and then erect a tower to with a storage tank on top, then get an electricity supply and pump the water to the houses! It’s all new to me, but I like it.

The first house is due for completion at the end of May, having been started a year ago, and the next few will follow on over time. I hope to make my mark so that the work continues on into the future in a sustainable way.