PRT train unskilled workers in Manogai using new program

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Kunar Provincial Reconstruction Team engineers provided a basic construction class to more than 40 unskilled laborers using a new training program in the Manogai district in Kunar province, Afghanistan, Feb. 6.

The training was for workers employed on projects funded by the PRT who are not educated in and therefore, have difficulty with meeting basic international construction standards.

On recent quality assurance checks of local projects, the PRT engineers noticed repeated poor craftsmanship and building techniques. To correct the issues and to ensure compliance with project statements of work, the engineers developed a new training program, to be delivered in Pashto, which trains the workers on important construction principles.

“Going through some old records I saw an e-mail from (the previous PRT engineer) sent in February 2008 to contractors that I could have written yesterday. It was the same construction issues we have today,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jay Burgess, PRT lead engineer. “Every issue we have today was in that e-mail, it was scary.”

Burgess said he was frustrated that today’s engineers are dealing with the same construction issues as previous PRTs without any changes, and he set out to find a way to fix it.

“The contractors hire the unskilled laborers from the local area, which is good, but they are not training them on international standards for construction practices,” Burgess said.

He also said they build like they’ve built for the past 500 years. It’s not that it’s wrong to do it that way, it’s just the PRT is going to take the extra time and build to international standards.

Burgess said having the workers build to the international standards doesn’t cost more money, but it does take more time and more education.

The PRT engineering department got together with the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives to put together a program they can take on the road to train the workers.

The training given to the students explained things like how to properly mix concrete, how to do interlocking rocks for strength, how to vibrate concrete, and how to use rebar. The class made clear the effects of poor construction and how using better techniques can improve a structure’s durability over time and withstand what Mother Nature throws at it.

The engineers compared the schools under construction around Manogai to those in Haiti. It had the desired outcome, with the workers getting a clearer picture on why they had to do work as the PRT demanded in the statements of work.

“The training went extremely well and it was well received by the workers,” said U.S. Navy Builder Chief Petty Officer David Zahm, PRT engineer. “Ali (an interpreter assigned to the engineering department with the PRT and the main trainer of the event) did a great job teaching them and they were happy to learn. In fact, they requested more training.”

The PRT engineers plan on using this training technique on all future projects to train unskilled workers in the beginning to ensure they do the work right the first time, every time. This will help eliminate a project being delayed or over budget.