The meeting took place on a small plot of land which John III (one of our graduates) had bought in instalments whilst working/training with HYT on the 3R's school development project. This initiative is a great example to other young people in the area and John now intends to build the first private ISSB house in the area. It is also hoped that the building will work as a showcase demonstrating the cost-effectiveness of using ISSB in place of fired bricks.
The main agenda for this meeting was for HYT to understand the difficulties which might prevent graduates from beginning their own projects using the machines provided. Once this had been established, HYT worked with the graduates to develop a strategy with which to overcome the highlighted issues. The outcomes of the meeting were as follows: -
1 - The graduates concluded that by working in teams whereby they develop one another's projects in turn, they would reduce or even eliminate the object of labour costs.
2 - It was also concluded that the heavy taxation on cement would mean that individuals would be forced to stop work on projects whilst work funds were acquired to progress onto the next level. Philip (Head of Training) and Sam (Country Manager) are currently experimenting with block making compounds which use string and straw to vastly reduce the amount of cement required. This would greatly reduce building costs when used on a small scale.
3 - HYT will look into developing an incentive scheme whereby once an individual reaches a level in construction, HYT might provide a bag of cement, a small amount off wood or some iron roof sheets for a number of pilot projects. This would be carefully monitored to ensure that it is a catalyst for swift development and NOT a free hand out!