Conestoga alumni Fiona Coughlin will be building homes in Nepal with Habitat for Humanity this December and is raising money for that effort to give families safe and comfortable dwellings.
Conestoga graduate Fiona Coughlin mixes cement while in Kenya building homes with Habitat for Humanity. This December, Coughlin will be in Nepal for another build.
The 2000 graduate of the Business Administration - Management program and chief executive officer of Habitat for Humanity Windsor-Essex is volunteering with Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village program.
“A big part of what we do is ensuring that we help internationally and also go to learn internationally as well,” Coughlin said. “There’s so much we can learn from different countries in the world.”
The learning includes how to manage the limited resources available to build homes as well as the potential environmental impacts in the particular location.
When Coughlin travelled to Kenya in 2019, she was fascinated to see how pressed soil blocks were used to build homes by interlocking them for stability rather than using mortar because water is limited. The bonus of using soil blocks is creating a comfortable environment inside thanks to its natural climate-control properties.
In Nepal, the homes will be built with more traditional concrete foundations and bricks and mortar, but also adding in bamboo as a flexible material that can help protect the dwellings against environmental threats as flooding and earthquakes.
Quality housing is urgently needed there. Nearly half of Nepal’s population lives in substandard housing, many families living in makeshift homes made from twigs, bamboo poles and mud with thatched roofs that leak during monsoon season and pose a high risk of fire in the dry season.
“It’s a great opportunity to give back, and bring back knowledge to North America,” Coughlin said.
Innovative construction techniques used elsewhere are brought home to help address the housing shortfall. Coughlin’s Kenya trip was a catalyst for Habitat’s groundbreaking work in Canada, including the construction of the country’s first 3D-printed homes.
“Your whole mind opens when you see the rest of the world,” Coughlin said. “We do have to think of things in different and creative ways to address the housing crisis. We have to find ways to build more efficiently, more cost effectively, and quickly to provide enough housing.”
Coughlin will be in Nepal in mid-December and part of the trip will be training as a team leader to be able to host teams and plan trips. The program only restarted this year in the wake of the pandemic, and volunteers will be needed to lend a hand as well as raise money to support the home building.
“Possibly Conestoga students and alumni might be interested in joining one of my teams next year,” Coughlin said. “It is a wonderful, life-changing experience. It will change your view of everything.”
Coughlin is among seven Conestoga alumni nominated for a 2024 Premier’s Award, which annually recognizes outstanding Ontario college graduates.
As the Nepal trip approaches, she is busy researching the country and its culture as well as ramping up her workouts to be ready for the physical exertion.
“The preparation is not hard, it’s exciting. I think ever since I was a Conestoga College student, I have been always seeking learning. Even when I graduated, I continued to pursue different kinds of certifications and any opportunity for training and learning that was out there. This makes me excited as another opportunity to learn. And then I’m really excited to lead teams and be able to teach and give back as well.”
Support Coughlin’s home building in Nepal at support.habitat.ca/goto/FionaCoughlin_Nepal.