Supporting vulnerable children and families with housing and schooling in Ghana

Severe poverty often leads to the separation of families as parents are forced to put their children into orphanages when they are no longer able to take care of them. Stiftelsen Make a Difference plans to build a “family center” in Bobikuma, Ghana, which aims to keep impoverished families together whilst providing them with a place to live and go to school.

Stiftelsen Make a Difference aims to primarily hire local workers the complete the center, but Engineers without Borders Sweden aids the organization with project management support and quality control. 

The family center will include classrooms and housing. The walls will be constructed using the “rammed earth” technique, which involves a combination of local soil, water and cement, pressed into bricks. The organization has hired the local contractor Fusion to build the center. Fusion has in turn hired a specialist company with experience using the “rammed earth” technique. 

Completed works include architectural plans, a geotechnical investigation, plans for installation and plumbing and structural calculations. A cost estimate for the construction and a preliminary construction schedule have been produces and contracts are being finalized. The construction started in the fall of 2019. 

Project manager
Arthur Sandels
arthur.sandels@gmail.com