In Tanzania, roughly 8% of children under the age of 18 are orphaned, with an estimated 90,000 orphans in the northern region of Kilimanjaro alone. Ranked 154th out of 187 countries in the UN Human Development Index, Tanzania remains one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.
Children are driven away or leave their homes due to poverty, neglect, family crises, abuse, or the death of one or both parents. Burdened with a lifetime of suffering, they often arrive at the existing Koa La Amani orphanage malnourished and in need of medical care.
These vulnerable children of all ages need a home, a place to learn, be loved, and develop into healthy members of the community. Despite having tragic pasts, they are full of smiles. They love to play and learn. New children arrive regularly and others are reunified, and yet the children’s village remains a home. The Kao La Amani Village was designed with these considerations in mind.
The buildings house spaces for all moods and all times of day - cosy spaces for sleep, rest and study, with more expansive and open spaces for play and socialising. The village is designed as a safe place where children of different ages can grow and develop together.
Highly sustainable, off-grid development
The design responds to the climate by providing generous overhangs to protect from sun and heavy rains. Courtyards at the centre of the cottages enable cross ventilation to all the dorms and living space. The butterfly roof of the dining block shades a series of external spaces – dining terrace, laundry area and a gathering porch outside the kitchen – and allows cross ventilation as well as dual or triple aspect internal spaces.
The village is designed to be highly sustainable and is operable entirely ‘off-grid’. All power is generated using solar PV panels, all water is provided by a borehole on site and then heated using solar hot water heaters, the waste is filtered via septic tanks and a constructed wetland. These sustainability features allow the school to run at minimal costs while protecting its natural resources and ensuring the Children’s Village will continue to provide to children in this area for decades to come.
Local materials and construction techniques have been prioritised throughout, with low carbon technologies to the fore. The roof trusses are of timber, as are the doors and windows. Upper walls are clad in locally-sourced sisal poles, and the bricks come from nearby kilns fired using rice husks, an agricultural waste product.
Article 25 worked with a team of Tanzanian and international experts to develop the proposals for the Children’s Village. MHA Structural Design, Hoare Lea and WSP are part of a pool of engineers, architects, developers, and constructers that make up Article 25’s ‘More Than a Building’ network, and have provided pro-bono engineering (structural, MEP and civil, respectively) for the project. Article 25 Managing Director Gemma Holding said ‘the pro-bono input we receive from our More Than a Building partners brings world-leading expertise to projects such as Kao La Amani Children’s Village, and helps to leave a lasting legacy in those communities we serve’.
A Lasting Impact
More than half of Tanzania’s population of 56 million are children. This youthful generation has the potential to be a huge asset to the country if they are given a fair start in life. The Kao La Amani Children’s Village provides more than just shelter, it’s a sustainable village designed to protect and nurture. Every child deserves a home.
