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Introducing
SUSHEL
SUSHEL is the acronym for Sustainable Shelter. As the name of the
organisation suggests, SUSHEL has the primary mission of promoting
sustainable shelter in Uganda
by using appropriate alternative technologies.
Shelter is any building designed to give protection (from bad weather,
danger or attack) in order to facilitate undertaking of various human
activities. Shelter consists of housing, social infrastructure (such as
schools, administrative buildings, hospitals), and commercial facilities
(shops, banks, offices).
Going by the above definition, the need for shelter in Uganda is
enormous. To take the example of social infrastructure, which can best be
explained by referring to the Universal Primary Education Programme (UPE),
it was projected in 2000 that up to 41,000 new classrooms are needed to for
the UPE to be successful. In addition there is need for government to
invest in buildings for other kinds of social infrastructure such as health
facilities, secondary and tertiary institutions of learning, and administrative
offices. With regard to housing, the need for decent housing cannot be
overemphasised with estimates stating that over 60 percent of the urban
population lives in appalling conditions in informal settlements while the
majority of the rural dwellers stay in rudimentary buildings which are, in
some instances, unfit for human habitation. Furthermore, and largely the
responsibility of the private sector, many commercial buildings need to be
constructed to accommodate various economic activities.
Against the background of the resource strapped economy that Uganda is,
the methods used to meet these huge shelter needs ought to be economically
and environmentally sustainable in order to save pecuniary and natural
resources. Unfortunately, the methods being used today to meet the shelter
needs are far from fulfilling the requirements of sustainability with the
outcome that there is undue strain on the environment and the economy; a
situation that in turn impedes efforts aimed at satisfying the shelter demand.
Conventional modern building methods currently in use in Uganda are
not only expensive but also use up a disproportionately high share of the
natural resources (especially forests and wetlands). And yet the resulting
buildings are in many cases climatically uncomfortable and can only be made
more comfortable by artificial means, such as air conditioning, which are
expensive and way beyond the reach of the majority of Ugandans.
Mindful of the above-described situation, group of Ugandan professionals in
the building industry have come together to form SUSHEL, which is conceived
as a Non-Governmental Organisation with the sole aim of promoting
sustainable shelter in Uganda.
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