Developing effective training
IN CONTEXT
Women in construction
Traditional gender roles can be a barrier for
capable women wanting to be involved in technical
and non-technical aspects of construction.
Build Change, an American-based NGO, supports
gender parity by actively hiring and training local
women for technical assistance in their communityand homeowner-based construction programs.
Often already proficient in their trade, Build Change
trains these female engineers, architects and
builders on hazard-resistant construction.
Build Change has found women particularly
interested in spreading safe construction
techniques to better their community, and they
excel in training others on safer construction
techniques too. Seeking self-employment, many of
these women put their skills to work after disaster
reconstruction. They become breadwinners and, in
some cases, start their own businesses.
Training should be developed and implemented by
appropriate technical experts with extensive experience
in hazard-resistant construction. Technical experts should
collaborate with potential recipients of the training –
construction workers and technical specialists – to ensure
the training adequately addresses their concerns and is
tailored to their learning needs. The training should provide
plenty of hands-on exercises and confidence-building
activities.
The development of training programs should take into
account the local context and the intended recipients. Local
tradespeople and unskilled labourers may only have basic
literacy, and some may have none at all. Few labourers have
experience reading technical drawings or understanding
technical terms. Those who have a little experience with
proposed materials and techniques may struggle learning
the new concepts. Conversely, those with some experience
may be overly confident in their abilities and reluctant to
adjust their practice by incorporating unfamiliar hazardresistant construction techniques.
Beyond teaching new construction techniques, training
should support participants as agents of change in their
community. In many communities, skilled tradespeople
have the highest available construction knowledge in the
neighbourhood. Their specialised knowledge, even when
limited, places them in a position of extraordinary influence.
They can strongly advocate for hazard-resistant construction
in a way that their neighbours respect.
Reinforced concrete bands in a masonry school building are
highlighted with bright white marks in Nepal. Parents now use these
techniques in the construction of their own homes. Traditionally, the
community built masonry houses without reinforcement.
Photo: Bishnu Pandey.
SECTION III: CONSTRUCTION
By building construction skills and building institutions for
continuing education and development, these tradespeople
can begin to promote hazard-resistant construction as part
of their service, promoting a broader culture of safety in their
communities.
78