Foundawtion
Organización sin ánimo de lucro dedicada a la cooperación, la ayuda al desarrollo y la acción socialdesarrollando proyectos de arquitectura, educación y diseño.
Bioconstruction Workshops by Okambuva at Bajankusoor
In December 2025, Okambuva ran a series of bioconstruction workshops at Bajankusoor, the vocational training school we are building in Thionck Essyl, Senegal, where 30 Jola women learned construction techniques using local wood, earth and natural fibres.
In December 2025, Okambuva ran a series of bioconstruction workshops at Bajankusoor, the vocational training school we are building in Thionck Essyl (Senegal), with the financial support of GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and in collaboration with Foundawtion and Daw Office.
Over several days of collective work, a group of 30 Jola women took part in a hands-on learning process focused on construction techniques using local wood, earth and natural fibres. The workshops combined technical training with moments of cultural exchange, music and shared life at the camp, creating a space for collective learning and community building.
The initiative also served as a platform to reflect on possible future lines of work driven by Okambuva and the Instituto Iscles, aimed at promoting training models rooted in the territory and local construction knowledge.
Training as a driver of development
The project was supported by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), the German international cooperation agency, which has been working in Senegal since the late 1970s promoting, among other initiatives, vocational training and youth employment programmes.
The local organisation and management of the training was handled by Nomadaw, a Senegalese company, thus reinforcing the territorial roots of the project and fostering a genuine transfer of knowledge and skills.
The collaboration between GIZ, Nomadaw, Foundawtion and Daw Office, together with the Okambuva team, made it possible to develop training directly connected to the social, cultural and constructive realities of the territory.
The goal was not only to teach construction techniques, but to contribute to strengthening local skills in construction-related trades, generating economic opportunities especially for young people and women, and connecting hands-on site training with the future programmes of the Bajankusoor Vocational Training Centre.
In other words, the aim was to ensure that what was learned during these days would not remain a one-off experience, but could become installed capacity, work opportunities and greater autonomy for the local community.
Thank you all!
