In Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in the world where illiteracy is widespread, students often attend schools far from their homes, where teachers typically live onsite due to the school’s remote location. 

For this project in Mucombeze, Shook’s eight workers—teaming up with SAM Ministries—constructed teacher dormitories at the 600-student primary school, where students walk as much as 10 miles to get to classes. 

Photo courtesy Manavision inc. and SAM Ministries

To construct the dorms made of masonry with a cementitious parge coat and timber roof framing with metal roofing—Shook crews overcame a lack of drawings, language barriers, sweltering heat, material shortages and a tight schedule. The local crew spoke only Portuguese or Shona, the local tribal dialect. The immense planning and coordination needed to execute the work stands out as the main challenge, according to Shook team members John Cleveland, senior project manager, and Dan Wolking, vice president. 

The team had to coordinate with three nations’ different COVID-19 travel restrictions to get to the site. The last stretch of travel required four hours on a bush plane, which delivered them to a dirt runway. They then went on a 30-minute truck ride through the African bush. 

Photo courtesy Manavision inc. and SAM Ministries

The construction team overcame these challenges and others in an area of the world where most school children sit on dirt floors, not at desks. Teachers can now sleep in the dorms, instead of on mats in the school’s clinics or storage rooms. 

“The human element of this project is what makes it special,” Wolking says, adding that the simple elements of the dormitories would never win an award on their own. “It’s the people involved in the project – the Mucombeze community, the kids at the school, the local crew, the Shook crew – that have the potential to inspire.”

Photo courtesy Manavision inc. and SAM Ministries