Preliminary evaluation of the Panama women"s self-help construction project

Preliminary evaluation prepared by the contractor covers the period 10/81-11/82 and is based on a questionnaire survey of beneficiaries and interviews with staff of supporting institutions. The project has proven a worthwhile investment. Eighty-three women, 80 of whom had received short-term training in masonry, plumbing, and carpentry, were provided with land, onsite supervision, and construction materials for their own houses, and use of heavy equipment and tools, as well as a monthly stipend. Working together, the women had completed 50 houses, including plumbing and electrical connections, by 11/82, as well as site facilities (storage buildings, changing rooms/showers, and lunchroom). Participants (who were indeed low-income women, with generally low educational levels and high unemployment rates) were pleased with the construction experience and, while the women"s rate of production is far below professional norms, the quality of their work is equivalent or superior to that of a professional crew. Although the project design calls for participants to repay stipends and material costs after project completion, due to their low incomes, only 36% of the women would be able to do so using standard 25-year, 12% mortgages. Nonetheless, project benefits (housing, an estimated 10% increase in participant"s potential earnings, the positive participatory experience, and other indirect benefits) far outweigh costs and the project"s internal rate of return is higher than that of comparable construction directed by the Panamanian Ministry of Housing. Replicability will depend on political support (a key factor in the success of this project), the availability of low-cost land and materials, adaptability to large scale production, and cost recovery. It is recommended that A.I.D. continue monitoring the project as it moves into its second phase; consider the alternative cost recovery mechanisms outlined in the evaluation; help to develop, on a pilot basis, community enterprises that will utilize skills developed by the project; and consider further self-help housing projects.