The fitting shop project
In New Abirem, the capital of Birim North District, there are a number of fitting shops. These are small garages where one or more "masters" and their apprentices repair vehicles. These fitting shops play a very important role by absorbing school drop-outs.
The apprentices learn the fitting profession from their "masters." This period of apprenticeship, 'based on learning by doing,' takes about three years, after which they might have acquired enough skills and experience to begin their own fitting shop or work with his 'master' or work in another fitting shop.
There is shortage of good tools, reference books and testing equipment in almost all the fitting shops. Yet, the fitters rarely say: "We are sorry, we can't repair this one." They are very inventive and creative. When our car broke down and had to be repaired, we had the opportunity to talk to the 'master' and owner of the fitting shop, William Nkansah.
William: "A lot of boys would like to learn this profession but we can't take them because the possibilities for us are very limited. There are now 6 "master" here and we have 10 apprentices. We don't have any shelter so when it is raining, we have to stop work. This is a big problem especially during the rainy season, between June and October. We can do a lot if we have tools and a place to keep our materials."
BigStep has researched into the possibilities of establishing a model garage in New Abirem. Apart from the possibilities to repair vehicles, this garage will serve as a training institute for auto mechanics. Aspects as the environment, safety, training, knowledge of materials, new technologies and working conditions will play an important role in this new project.