Habitat for Humanity Vanuatu's reputation as a leader in building skills training and youth development is set to expand with the opening of the organisation's brand new building centre in Port Vila.

Located in Tagabe, the new building will be a one-stop centre housing HFHV's new workshop and training facilities, as well as the organisation's administrative offices.

"We're very excited by this move," said Acting National Director Viviane Licht. "From now on, we have all our operations under one roof, and with our new workshop space, we've got extra capacity to deliver our training programmes to communities in Vanuatu."

The new building centre will be a social enterprise focusing on the empowerment of young people, women and men from all walks of life, teaching them skills that will increase their chances of finding employment.

The centre's training programmes combine modern and innovative construction techniques with traditional building skills. They aim to provide the practical skills and technical knowledge needed to both find work and improve access to simple, low-cost housing.

The new centre aims to run month-long carpentry and joinery workshops throughout the year, as well as courses on masonry techniques and concrete interlocking block construction.

The training programme will pay particular attention to the needs of women and vulnerable groups. HFHV hopes to encourage more young women and teenage girls to gain skills in house construction and basic carpentry and joinery.

And Habitat training courses get results. As many as 65% of the graduates from last year's Habitat building skills apprenticeship programme have since found work - and one is even a building foreman.

"There's such a shortage of building skills in Vanuatu," said Licht, "and so many young people who never finished school and can't find work.

"Habitat has made a real and lasting impact on the lives of so many young people, by helping them get the skills they need to find employment and build better homes. And not just individuals, but families and whole communities are benefiting."

The Habitat Building Centre will open on 14 August 2006. Contact the HFHV office for details.

To find out more about our work, see our What we do pages.

For details of how to join one of our workshops, see our Get Involved pages.