By Tony Kaye | Member of AVN Management Committee
The construction season in the villages of the Chibombo District in Zambia runs from May to November, during the driest months of the year. So there is little to report from the field since my last update in November, at the end of the successful first VN construction season.
However, there has been a lot of activity behind the scenes, in planning and organising the 2011 program:
- around 10,000 euros ( 14,000 $ ) has been raised from institutional sponsors by AVN-Belgium to support the program, and a further $350 has come in through your donations via Global Giving,
- ongoing discussions with the Zambian Ambassador in Brussels have ensured that there is growing official support for AVN's program,
- an experienced project manager from AVN Burkina Faso will go out to Zambia at the beginning of May for a month to tour the villages in the district, asses the needs and demands for VN housing, and help train up a local project coordinator and select suitable apprentices,
- at the end of May, two VN master masons from Burkina will go there for the duration of the six month construction period, to train a new batch of Zambian apprentices and, at the same time, build more VN village houses.
So, the foundations have been laid for the next season, when we hope to see at least a doubling of the results from 2010. The start-up costs of this program are far higher than those of our projects in the Sahel, because of the need to provide air fares, insurance, and subsistence for the skilled masons and other staff brought in from Burkina Faso; Clearly, these costs will reduce in a couple of years' time, when the technology transfer process will be completed, and a local AVN team will have been established in Zambia. But, in the meantime, any help you can provide will, of course, be very welcome
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