World · Africa · 16 hrs ago
Swiss masonry apprentices build kindergarten shell in Tanzania
Twelve masonry apprentices from Ziegelbrücke, Switzerland, built a kindergarten shell in Ngateu, Tanzania, over ten days.
They worked with the aid organisation Bassotu on a project to bring a kindergarten closer to children’s homes.
The new site is intended to make the journey safer in the rainy season, when routes to kindergarten can be difficult and dangerous.
A shipping container with tools and equipment did not reach the worksite, so the group had to manage with less material than planned.
The apprentices and local workers found practical ways to continue, including building a temporary platform from cement blocks and boards.
Heavy rain also stopped work at times and made roads too muddy for a delivery truck and the group’s bus.
The account does not say when the kindergarten will be completed or opened.
Twelve masonry apprentices from Ziegelbrücke, Switzerland, built the shell of a kindergarten in Ngateu, Tanzania.
The project aims to give children a safer, closer place to attend kindergarten during the rainy season.
The apprentices worked for ten days at the end of October and beginning of November.
A delayed container left them without their tools and materials, while heavy rain slowed construction.
They worked with local people to find practical solutions, including building a makeshift platform for further masonry work.
- Who
- Twelve masonry apprentices from the Ziegelbrücke vocational school worked with local people.
- What
- They built the shell of a kindergarten.
- When
- For ten days at the end of October and beginning of November. The year is not stated.
- Where
- Ngateu, Tanzania.
- Why
- The kindergarten is intended to make attendance safer for children during the rainy season by bringing it closer to where they live.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The class studied building blocks and cement components, prompting the idea for a kindergarten project.
The apprentices and their supervisors packed and shipped a container of tools and materials.
The apprentices travelled to Tanzania, but the container had not arrived.
The group worked on the kindergarten shell for ten days, adapting to missing supplies and heavy rain.
- Apprentices
- 12 from the Ziegelbrücke vocational school
- Project location
- Ngateu, Tanzania
- Construction work
- 10 days
- Container
- Tools and materials did not arrive at the building site
- Kindergarten purpose
- A safer, closer destination for children during the rainy season
What people are saying
It was a unique experience.
We did much more by hand. Since there were no cranes there, we had to carry all the stones by hand, and at 32 kilograms they were not exactly light.
We decided a day before departure to take everything important for the first few days of work.
Together with the local people, we built a platform for the scaffolding out of cement blocks and boards so that we could continue with the next layers.