TELL US THREE SETBACKS YOU HAVE FACED
One major setback occurred during my final year in Architectural school. I had developed an interest in traditional African building techniques involving mud blocks. After some research I believed that mud block technology would not only reduce the cost of construction considerably which currently relied on Portland cement but also go a long way to solve the housing deficit facing Ghana. Having chosen traditional African building techniques as my thesis topic I researched thoroughly into mud housing and how it could be used for modern housing across Ghana. After completing my thesis I had enough information to enable me liaise with the Building and road research institute to set up a company that would produce mud blocks to build houses. We were expecting partial funding from the government whom we assumed would be interested considering the huge deficit for housing being faced by the country. We were excited about the project after thorough research and a detailed business plan. The setback came when we were denied funding from the government after presenting our plan. The Minister in charge explained why our project was not financially feasible because mud blocks were not an attractive option to most modern Ghanaians and how it was not structurally viable for modern construction. Though an initial setback this was an opportunity to take some of the criticism and use it as a feedback. I realized the need to make the mud blocks more aesthetically presentable to modern consumers and met with my construction technology professor to gain an insight into improving the structural quality. As a result of the initial rejection we came up with a better product and I learnt the valuable lesson of endurance.
Another setback occurred when I dealt with a team of building professionals as a young architect on a building project. I lacked