Titolo MORIJA HERITAGE PROJECT
Typology Master Internship
Year 2021
Project site Makeneng, Lesotho
Relationships Inspiring Social Enterprise (rise) is a registered non-profit social enterprise in the US and in Lesotho, where I was hosted for my internship. Through its network of professionals and specialised in design and architecture industry, this NGO connects aspiring entrepreneurs coming from vulnerable communities in low-income sub-Saharan African countries to essential resources they would not otherwise have access to. Resources provided include technical and soft skills, business and entrepreneurship training, work experience in the built environment sector, mentorship, customers references, access to market, and other business incubation services. rise aims to develop training and solutions that can address local needs and contribute to the economic development. In addition, it tries to address the issue of the lack of infrastructure and their poor quality by sending national skilled labourers to work on architectural projects in rural areas, with the objective of improving the construction know-how within local communities.
In recent years, the Seriti sa Makhoarane Heritage & Tourism Initiative (SSM), together with Rise International has been working to preserve and restore the historical assets located in Morija, Makeneng, Matsieng, and Phahameng. Through various activities, the group of institutions and the international organization are creating a network of actors involved in a shared project and they are making communities and authorities aware of the issue of the restoration of their architectural heritage.
A Restoration Team based in Makeneng is providing the technical support and designing the architectural project to restore the historical buildings in Makeneng and Morija. This group is leading the meeting to sensitise the communities towards these topics. I was invited to join the Restoration Team to lead the process of data collection and preparation of the project’s economic estimation, while living with them in Mekeneng village.
My team was composed by one architect, one engineer, three construction managers, and me, under the supervision and guidance of the Project Manager, Internship tutor, and Rise’s Founder, Daniela Gusman.
During my three months on-site, I studied extensively the buildings in the village, the traditional construction method, and the specific historical typology in this region. There were two groups of architecture: the first group was formed by the big and famous architectures that Prince Lerotholi built for him and the village, for example: his office, Lerotholi’s Office, and the Church, Lerotholi LECSA Church (second half of XIX century). The second group of architectures was more domestic, formed by six “Metopo Houses”, the original wives’ houses that Prince Lesotholi built for his wives. All these historical constructions are made of sandstone walls and thatch roof, with a wooden structure and a cover made by thatch (except for the bigger buildings that have metal sheet roofs).
Even if the materials used in the constructions are similar, the decay that these architectures present is specific case by case: when the buildings are still used by families, the decay is not severe, and it is mainly caused by the atmosphere agents and the lack of proper maintenance. When the buildings are not used anymore, the state of abandonment is serious, and the decay of the roof and walls is severe.
My goal was to work with the Restoration team, doing capacity-building activities and sharing technical knowledge regarding a restoration project: the topics we worked on together were the material analysis, the decay analysis, the bill of quantities for a restoration project, and the restoration intervention.
Moreover, it was fundamental to establish a link between the team and Rise International, allowing my colleagues to have a weekly call with the Project Manager and the Founder to share information about the work and personal challenges they had day by day. Other important aspects I work on, were to improve the communication skills and critical capacity of the team, to be able to make observations on colleagues’ tasks, and expressing doubt or ask questions, improving team dynamics.
During my time in Lesotho, I was also involved in other projects. The first one was The 5 Hub School, a project led by Action Ireland Trust to build facilities in five schools in Maseru: I attended the construction meetings at the construction sites. The second one was the preparation of the Participatory Design Workshop Toolkit: I wrote and designed a toolkit to help the facilitators of Rise leading the Participatory Design Workshop with the target communities and the stakeholders involved. I also started compiling a Material Specification document, a catalogue where the construction materials available in Lesotho are described.
The internship experience made me grow from a professional and human point of view, practicing my problem-solving skills in a totally unknown environment. The NGO welcomed me, and provide me with the suggestions and support I needed to go on the field and to develop my work alone. Furthermore, it has been extremely interesting to know a reality where architecture is a tool to stimulate the economy and the professional growth of a young population in a developing country.