Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI), recently completed a two-week training on construction and designing with their Canadian counterpart, Dalhousie University of architecture, in Canada.

Designed as the practical work session, the training brought  28 students from GTTI and professors from Dalhousie University. In an interview with the Daily Observer, professor Sarrah Bonnenaison of Dalhousie University said, every year two professors from his academic institution come to The Gambia and help students to get the know-how so as to design and construct a building with local materials. She then added that, in The Gambia, most of the building materials are imported from outside the country, while there are natural resources that can construct and are cheap and affordable. "Before we came, the students themselves conducted a research around the country and came up with an idea of making a bash, where people sit and wait for a bus," she noted.

For his part, Professor Brim Lilly, Dalhousie University disclosed that the aim of the exercise was not only to help them to design and construct a building but also for them to understand what they are designing. He furthee said that, making a bash Bamboo roof will protect you from the sun. For his part, Batch Samba Bachelor student in community design and building, said that, the exercise create their awareness in building technology and it forster their creativity in designing and building construction.

According to him, the exercise is a challenge to them, as Gambia needs designers in the near future. "Using our natural resources in constructing will enable us to import less building materials", he stated. He further thanked their Canadian counterpart and the management of GTTI for the gesture.