In July 2007, Annie Pearce, assistant professor of building construction, and Christine Fiori, assistant director of undergraduate programs, industry relations, and outreach in the Myers-Lawson School of Construction, visited two villages in Kenya to assess local building projects.
The first was a 140-child orphanage—Faith Brethren Children’s Home. Pearce and Fiori helped the orphanage create a punch list thereby giving them time to address the structural and developmental issues.
They also met with individuals in the Ngeta village to determine projects Virginia Tech students could help find solutions to, or to design and build; discussions were conducted to define potential areas where collaborations between the village and other stateside groups could be established.
Pearce and Fiori evaluated the feasibility of the conversion of an existing resident to an orphanage and clinic facility to serve village residents. The venture was organized and sponsored by Peacework, a Blacksburg-based organization that works to build community-to-community alliances to address global challenges.
