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Kirstin Aitken

Qualifications/Work Experience: MA MArch (University of Edinburgh and University of Sheffield). I've worked in Edinburgh as a student in a large office working on mainly residential projects. During my part one placement year I worked as part of a group of students from Edinburgh University on the design and later the building of a hostel for a youth vocational training centre in Northern Tanzania. Since returning to the UK from India I've worked for an architectural practice in London and now have recently started a new job in Norfolk.

What are you doing now? I'm working for a small practice (3 people) in rural Norfolk working on small scale sustainable housing projects. I hope to start working towards my RIBA part 3 (my final architectural qualifications) next year.
How would you describe your Shelter Associates experience? Working at Shelter Associates was a massive learning curve for me. I found it very rewarding to work on a project that was going to have such a positive impact for the future residents. It was great to work with the permanent staff of Shelter Associates and be part of what is going on there. People were very welcoming which made my time in Pune very special. While there were definitely frustrations (powercuts being one!), overall it was a really positive experience.
What did you learn from your time with Shelter? It was really good to see first hand the workings of an NGO doing architectural work, as this is something I've been interested in pursuing for some time. It was interesting to see the work I did as part of a much larger picture - I'm looking forward to hearing how things are progressing now. I suppose I learned a bit about realism too - it was back to reality with a bump following my masters! On a different note, I learned a great deal just living in Pune within a completely different culture as well - it was a real life experience for me.
My message to future volunteers is… to read about the different research that Shelter has done and contact some past volunteers to prepare for your experience. Also, not knowing the local language is not a problem when working in slums. You can still be efficient in field making drawings, local surveys, and photos to complete the work of the SA team.
My message to future volunteers is… don't expect things to happen fast! and enjoy it!
You can reach me at kirstinaitken@hotmail.com