Orkidstudio / Buildher

Since early 2021, Drum focused its support toward a subsidiary of Orkidstudio called Buildher. Founded in 2018, Buildher’s mission is to equip disadvantaged young women from Nairobi’s informal settlements with accredited construction skills, leading to greater financial prosperity while promoting gender equality within the construction industry.

Buildher women undergo a rigorous 12-month skills training programme including a workshop component and paid employment placement. The curriculum includes market-informed trade skills as well as financial literacy, gender-based violence awareness, sexual health and family planning, communication and leadership.

The life skills component of training enables women to thrive in their careers and everyday environments. Buildher women secure accredited construction jobs, increasing their incomes between 3 and 5 times within 6 months of graduating into employment. These women, often mothers and frequently single parents, previously earned $3 a day or less.

Despite the challenges enforced by Covid lockdowns throughout 2021, Buildher trained and graduated 57 women through the Carpentry and Joinery courses. More than 40% of these women have gone on to find their own employment placements in construction or launched their own businesses with the rest of the group awaiting further placements through Buildher.

In September 2021, Buildher launched an additional Painting & Decoration training course, that will see an additional 90 women trained within the year.