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Camosun College in Mozambique

February 8, 2010

“Bem-vindo ao Xai-Xai!” said the Portuguese-speaking taxi driver to Jim, Tom and Olaf—Camosun’s inception team for a CIDA-funded Education for Employment project. Fortunately, Tom can speak Portuguese—a major factor in a country where most of their counterparts are Portuguese-speaking apart from a few words of English or German. The three of them arrived on December 6 in Xai-Xai, the capital city of the province of Gaza, Mozambique, with their luggage and the beginnings of a significant project on their hands. The team hit the ground running with a 6-day agenda of meetings and introductions—mayors, county prefects, the provincial Public Works council, Ministry of Labour directors, Ministry of Education directors, the Deputy Minister of Gaza and other officials.

Earlier in 2009, Camosun College International’s (CCI) Jim Paulson (Faculty, International Programs & Projects) developed a proposal in response to CIDA’s Education for Employment program, which was later defended, and won, in Ottawa with assistance from Tom Roemer (Dean, School of Trades & Technology). Therefore, CCI will receive $300,000 to facilitate a two-year project in partnership with the Industriel e Comercial 7 de Setembro de Xai-Xai (IICXX) in Mozambique—a local post-secondary institution with over 2000 students.

“Our expected outcomes are to provide a curriculum for residential construction, including safety and ethics components. It will be modularized, so that some modules can be used for employment programs on the part of the Ministry of Labour, while the complete package would form the backbone of technical schools here”, said Roemer. “If what we deliver meets expectations, the Ministry of Education will implement the curriculum nationally”.

Meanwhile, it became very clear to Camosun’s team that wood construction, which we are familiar with in BC, is of little use in Southern Mozambique where softwood is not available. The predominant construction materials are cinder blocks and bricks. Enter Olaf Nielson, Camosun’s Trades Training Coordinator, also a trained bricklayer and mason. While Camosun does not offer bricklayer or masonry programs, Olaf’s expertise will allow the team to augment Camosun’s construction curriculum to suit the needs of the region.

With Jim, Tom and Olaf now back from Mozambique, they are working on the next steps of planning in which CCI and the School of Trades & Technology will play a lead role.

Learn about other Camosun College development projects facilitated by Camosun College International.