Association La Voute Nubienne (AVN) trains villagers in Mali to build environmentally sound, healthy houses with mud brick vaults—a valid alternative to expensive timber, sheet metal, and cement.

Traditional village houses in Mali have mud and timber walls, with a roof made either of grass or a lot of timber beams supporting a mud brick flat terrace. As a result of climate change and deforestation, these houses are disappearing. They have a limited life span, as wood is often eaten by termites, and the grass needs regular replacement. Rural families resort to buying corrugated iron sheets and sawn timber for roof-building, which is an expensive, uncomfortable, fragile, and unhealthy option.

Solution

This Village Development Project has already trained over 50 NV masons, who have built houses, mosques, schools, a dispensary, and a community center for 152 different clients, the majority of whom are poor village families.

Long-Term Impact

The project aims to create a self-sustaining local market in VN housing, with a critical mass of trained NV masons and entrepreneurs earning their living through their skills.