Aberdeen Charity’s Site Visit Enhances Kenyan Worker’s Skills

Kenyan representatives from Aberdeen-based charity Gathimba Edwards Foundation (GEF) were recently given an insight into Scotland’s residential construction industry with a visit to Bancon Homes’ Kinion Heights development.

GEF’s Operations Manager David Sagida,  charity Co-Founder Gideon Gathimba and his wife Susan Mwangi travelled to the UK as part of the charity’s 10-year anniversary celebrations.  It was David and Susan’s first time travelling out of Kenya.

The primary aim of the site visit to Kinion Heights was to provide the visitors with a unique opportunity to experience a UK construction site environment and exchange construction skills and site management techniques that can be effectively applied to forthcoming house-building ventures in Kenya, consequently benefitting the local construction industry.

The group witnessed the various construction phases of  UK homes, from foundations right through to the finished house.  As a result, they gained a better understanding of construction materials, equipment, machinery, and the application of various building techniques used in the UK.

Expressing his thoughts on the visit, David said, “This is my first time outside of Kenya and it was such a thrill to visit Aberdeen to celebrate the charity’s 10-year anniversary.  I really enjoyed visiting Kinion Heights and learned a lot of new skills that we can apply to house building construction in Kenya. Despite big differences in how we build homes, like the materials and tools we use, we found that similar techniques and principles could still work."

The site visit, hosted by Bancon Homes Contracts Manager, Darren Cocker provided an opportunity for the Kenyan delegates to observe firsthand the construction processes involved in UK home building and gain insights into the operational dynamics of the British construction sector.

Darren Cocker has been instrumental in supporting GEF's 6 house-building trips since 2015 having overseen project management for the 4 most recent trips. He said, " The satisfaction I feel once we come to the end of a trip and have managed to re-home children and their families that were previously living in poor conditions, is what drives me to continue supporting GEF. It is such an incredible feeling to re-visit the families in their homes that GEF volunteers have built and witness the positive impact our actions have had on their lives.”

Darren added, “Having been made to feel so welcome on all my trips to Kenya I’m honoured to be able to welcome three of GEF’s Kenyan representatives to a Bancon Homes development. After overseeing all of GEF’s Kenya house building volunteer trips, I can identify where we can be instrumental in teaching and passing on skills and techniques to David and Gideon to take back to Kenya.”

The group expressed a keen interest in the UK’s  extensive health and safety protocols from site inductions,  protective clothing and the comprehensive procedures applied on site to ensure all risks are mitigated.

In rural Kenya, access to quality materials, tools and equipment is incredibly challenging.  Consequently, building methods are basic and only simple structures can be created using minimal hand tools.

For a decade, Gathimba Edwards Foundation (GEF) has been building homes for some of the most disadvantaged people in Kenya. With the help of over 250 volunteers, the charity has erected more than 50 homes. Almost half of these have been as a result of 6 volunteer trips and have transformed the lives of countless individuals, many of whom lived in squalid conditions

Find out more about the Gathimba Ewards Foundation at Gathimba Edwards Foundation - Children's charity - Sponsor a child