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1 UNICEF Rwanda Early Childhood Development & Family Centre Construction Programme

UNICEF and partners recently completed nine model early childhood development and family centres (ECD&F) across Rwanda. Construction began in September 2013 and finished in July 2014. The total construction budget was almost 713,000,000 RWF ($1,051,000) including earth works, which varied by location depending on the steepness of the site and the need for excavation and retaining walls, and building construction. Working with government representatives, sites were selected in districts across the country. The ECD&F centres were predominantly located in underserved sectors (VUP level 1 or 2) with the goal of providing services for 1,700 children ages 0 to 6 and their families. Each site included three stimulation rooms, a demonstration kitchen, an administration building, and one covered outdoor area of similar size, as well as a rainwater collection system and a latrine block and a fenced in area with playground. The program was partially funded by the UK Government.

Primary education enrolment in Rwanda in 2013 was 97%. At the same time, only 13% of children ages four to six were enrolled in pre-primary education. Over 40% of children under five are stunted and at risk of irreversible developmental delays. Early childhood development (ECD) programmes can better prepare children for school and help realize their full development potential. Studies confirm investment

in ECD programmes is highly cost-effective and can provide considerable returns including promotion of long-term economic growth and significantly reduced inequality.

Rwanda’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (2013-2018) envisions a gradual scale-up of ECD services. UNICEF’s construction programme models the ECD&F concept across the country. The centres offer family and community empowerment by providing a stimulating start in life for babies, infants and small children. They offer integrated services including health, nutrition, water, sanitation, education and protection of children and caregivers. These centres will help guide future ECD expansion.

Rwanda Early Childhood Development & Family Centre

Construction Programme

BACKGROUND

SUMMARY

Children tes�ng a new swing set


UNICEF Rwanda initiated the project with the Government of Rwanda and partial funding from the UK Government’s Department for International Development. UNICEF partnered with Plan Rwanda to develop five sites and Imbuto Foundation to develop four more. Plan contracted the construction activities out to BETEX, a private construction company, while Imbuto worked through the Districts for procurement and construction. Active Social Architecture designed the centres for UNICEF and provided ongoing construction administration. UNICEF employed a dedicated construction management consultant to monitor the overall program.

SITES

Plan Rwanda built ECD&F centres in Ngoma and Rwamagana in Eastern Province, Gicumbi in Northern Province, Nyamasheke in Western, and Nyamagabe in Southern. Three of these sites employed a circular building layout, with two (Gicumbi and Nyamasheke) needing an S-shape to accommodate site conditions. At seven hours from Kigali, the site in Nyamasheke is the most remote.

Imbuto delivered sites in Gakenke in Northern Province, Nyabihu in Western, and Gasabo and Nyarugenge in Kigali. Only one of their sites (Gakenke) needed the S-shape in addition to large retaining walls. The Nyabihu site proved the most problematic for earth works as the ground had lots of volcanic rock that made digging for foundations, rainwater collection tanks, and soak pits very difficult.

TEAM

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UNICEF Rwanda Early Childhood Development & Family Centre Construction Programme

Circular Layout

The ECD&F design is intended to provide a community centre with a series of buildings arranged around a central space. Organizing the compound as a group of independent buildings connected via the roof and sidewalk allows deployment in a circular or S-shaped orientation to accommodate a variety of space and slope conditions, both of which create semi-enclosed courtyards. The five basic elements; stimulation rooms, multipurpose hall, open demonstration kitchen, administration block and latrines; are small reinforced masonry structures, resting on concrete foundations, with clay roof tiles. They are integrated by a continuous porch which allows for a variety of covered outdoor spaces for learning and communal activities. The whole compound is fenced and includes playground equipment and kitchen gardens.

DESIGN

WASH

S-Shaped Layout

In addition to the child and community-friendly nature of the design, effort was made to provide water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities that promote use of safe water and basic sanitation services and promote improved hygiene. To collect water, each ECD&F has a 30,000 liter masonry half dome water tank buried in the courtyard. This tank is fed by gutters and downspouts collecting rainwater from the roofs, over 500 m2 of area, and accessed by a centrally located foot pump and fountain.

For sanitation, the centres use ecological sanitation (ecosan) technology, which diverts urine from faeces in order to ultimately use both for agriculture. Liquid waste is piped to a tank for use in irrigation and solid waste is stored for six months for drying and sanitation before being used as nutrients for crops.

Each latrine block is equipped with two stalls for girls, two stalls for boys, and one handicapped stall, all with plastic potty seats for use by the very young. There are child friendly hand wash stations labelled as “non-potable” at the latrine and in the kitchen, which also has a sink for cooking and cleaning dishes.


Women bringing water for concrete in Nyamasheke

Masons finishing a s�mula�on room wall Young girl monitoring construc�on

Partner from Plan addressing masons Underground water tank under construc�on

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Playground equipment in central courtyard District official tes�ng pump in Nyamasheke

Child sized tables and chairs Semi-enclosed mul�purpose space

Completed s�mula�on room with chalk board


PLAY

Early childhood development is best promoted through opportuni�es for

s�mula�on and play.

Recognizing the importance of play-based learning for young children, the ECD&F centres provide lots of opportunities for children to play and learn. All sites are provided with a selection of custom made playground equipment including:

Lime green, cow-shaped slide Bright yellow seesaw (teeter totter) Light blue merry-go-round Swing set with three wooden seats Large sand pit adjacent to the sidewalk

To make the playground equipment accessible year round, even in the rainy season, a thick layer of gravel covers the play area. All of the stimulation rooms are equipped with multiple blackboards for writing, including some located very low for children to access. The entire site has lots of outdoor covered space including exterior blackboards and the multipurpose hall for outdoor learning. Caregivers are also provided with educational toys and trained in their use as part of the ongoing support from UNICEF and partner Imbuto Foundation.

Plan Rwanda hired BETEX to build their five sites and employed a construction consultant to head the

program with a construction specialist and construction assistant for support. BETEX had a construction engineer overseeing the program and site foremen at all locations. ASA provided weekly construction

monitoring visits on behalf of UNICEF. The finished projects turned out very well, though there were a number of issues during construction including site staff not having or understanding the architectural drawings, masons not correctly executing the Flemish bond, extra site work and retaining walls needed to accommodate steep slopes, and the original roof structure being inadequate and needing to be re-designed to handle the heavy clay tiles. These issues caused the schedule to increase from six to ten months and the

construction budget to increase by 19%. Construction costs were 334,000 RWF ($493) per m2 of interior space and 129,00 RWF ($190) per m2 of roofed area.

Imbuto worked directly with the Districts to build their four sites. They employed a construction manager to

oversee the program and two construction engineers for site supervision, while the districts provided foremen, clerks, labour and materials. ASA provided weekly construction monitoring visits for these sites as well. In

addition to the issues above, these sites experienced numerous delays due to the Districts’ material procurement process and payment of labour. The Imbuto projects also took ten months to deliver and their budgets

increased by 22%. Construction costs were 350,000 RWF ($516) per m2 of interior space and 135,000 RWF ($200) per m2 of roofed area.

CONSTRUCTION

Woman selec�ng bricks in Gicumbi.

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COMMUNITY BENEFIT

Each of the sites selected for the ECD&F centres was identified as having a community that would benefit from the services while being able to support the centre’s operation. Construction of the facilities initially

employed dozens of local labourers at each site providing addition revenue and skills for the community.

The completed classroom buildings are estimated to provide services for 1,700 children and their families each year. Not only will this improve the development of children attending the centre, it will free older siblings and parents up to attend school and study, work, or provide care for other children. The ECD&F

centres will incorporate health, nutrition, water, and sanitation programmes to further benefit the young

children, their families, and the community at large.

When operational, each site will employ three to ten individuals to work as care givers, cooks, gardeners, security guards, administrators, and cleaning and

maintenance staff. The liquid and solid wastes collected from the ecosan latrines are helping improve local agriculture. UNICEF is working with Imbuto Foundation to engage the community, train

caregivers, and monitor performance over the first year.

Final acceptance of Nyamagabe site by the

Sector and District.

Finishing a masonry wall in

Nyamagabe.


For more informa�on:

unicef.org/rwanda

Construction and operation of the nine ECD&F centres included in this program are one step in the larger effort to offer early childhood development opportunities to all Rwandan children. Throughout the program, the team collected best practices and opportunities for improvement in future projects At the completion of construction, interested stakeholders gathered for a full-day lessons learned workshop. Future construction programs will benefit from the lessons learned from these projects.

Designs and budgets should incorporate site specific challenges before commencing projects

Regular monitoring and management meetings should be continues throughout the programme

Additional specifications, contractor trainings, and minimum qualifications may reduce errors

Samples and mock-ups of all materials and assemblies should be produced and reviewed

Increase the lighting levels in the stimulation room to provide productive learning spaces

Pay special attention to site drainage and stormwater management for all projects

Boys standing in front of an exterior blackboard

at Nyamasheke.

LESSONS LEARNED

Central courtyard at the ECD&F in Ngoma.

ECD&F centres integrate health, nutri�on,

WASH, educa�on and protec�on.

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