Alan Bennet, who was working for Mercy Corp at the time, got in touch to ask if I could help design some roof trusses in steel for some schoolrooms he was constructing at a refugee camp in Darfur. What makes this project interesting is the demonstrated ability to service such a request remotely. Working in the European Union this would be staight forward, but in such a remote area with a limited palette of materials and skills made this particularly interesting. When asked what steel and timber was available locally I was told they had some window angle for steel and that it was not so much timber as a fiberous reed.
The project was completed sucessfully and after an initial stage of incomprehension, the local metalworker came round to understanding detailed drawings and appreciated them.