Project Updates - South Sudan Education Project

The Australian Good Samaritan College Project addresses two major challenges in South Sudan; improving the quantity and quality of female school teachers and encouraging girls to remain in school and obtain a formal education. It is estimated less than 1% of girl's complete primary school in Sudan and after more than two decades of civil war the College is an opportunity for women who are returning home, to train locally, obtain new skills and receive an income.

The AGSC site is located in Wau, South Sudan. The project brief was to provide facilities for a women's learning centre focusing on training primary and secondary school teachers. The college will include eight classrooms to accommodate two-hundred students, adjoined to operational facilities including administration offices, kitchen and dining facilities and office space for teaching staff. It will also provide boarding facilities for approximately one hundred and sixty students, making it possible for women to reside on campus and eliminate long journey's home everyday.
















The master plan is derived from the inside out. The meeting hall is the heart of the college functioning as the main gathering space for meals, assemblies and activities. The courtyards are designed for smaller informal gatherings offering shade, intimacy and familiarity. The built form is orientated towards the meeting hall and is bound by a continuous verandah to maintain access all year round.




The Rufisque Women's Centre, Senegal is a benchmark project for its architectural clarity, as well as its integration of local and recycled building materials.



A water tower is located above the kitchen to store rainwater for drinking, amenities and irrigation depending on rainfall. The service facilities are located outside the building ring including parking facilities, a security office, an orchard and vegetable garden. The entire site is fenced to prevent wild animals from entering.

The master plan allows for the construction to be staged over time depending on available funds and any potential future expansion


Retain local palms
(Pheonix sp.) on site
and use to create
entry statement.

..... .....

example of water tower to harvest

rainwater for clean drinking water,

amenities and irrigation

(St Judes, Arusha Tanzania）

discussion about the need to offer pro bono work

I found the following discussion about the need and, as argued by some, obligation to offer pro bono work--what do you think?
Find this discussion here

The Age: on one of arch-peace probono project

Photo: Roger Cummins
Carlton uni squat talks stall

Annie Lawson (The Age)
October 9, 2008

"NEGOTIATIONS have stalled between the University of Melbourne and students squatting in terrace houses the university owns in Carlton.

Fifteen homeless students moved into the Faraday Street properties two months ago, frustrated by soaring rents and a shortage of suitable properties.

Although vice-chancellor Glyn Davis has publicly lamented the student housing shortage, nothing has been done, according to the squatters.

The rental vacancy rate in inner Melbourne is 1.1% and the university's residential colleges, which house about 2300 students, are full.

According to the university's Student Housing Services, students are spending up to 40% of their income on rent.

The student squatters have installed fire alarms, repaired holes in the floors, patched leaking pipes and draped banners over the balconies promoting SHAC - the Student Housing Action Collective. The not-for-profit organisation Architects for Peace has agreed to plan a renovation so the terraces can accommodate 40 students. The Melbourne body wants to follow the lead of the University of Sydney co-operative STUCCO, which charges rents as low as $70 a week. The Melbourne collective's spokeswoman, Allegra Reinalda, said: "It's a public statement about what students want in terms of housing - they want the co-operative model that enables a community atmosphere."

But the university refuses to negotiate until the students move out. Student Housing Services manager Adrian Burrage said the university was exploring co-operative housing but declined to comment on whether it would consider the Faraday Street terraces.

The squatters get most of their food from supermarket rubbish skips."

Find this article here: http://www.theage.com.au/national/carlton-uni-squat-talks-stall-20081008-4wqz.html