The arid back-country of rural Namibia has just provided an unlikely venue for management training, combined with community service, for Philippe Froncioni of Amlin Bermuda.

Helping to build a cooking house for a primary school in the north of the sparsely populated African republic also “raised the bar on my perspective just as a person”, the assistant underwriter said.

The global insurer has developed a programme, now in its second year, known as ICAL, or International Community Action Learning, to hone the management skills of staff performing to a high standard.

Having fit the bill, Mr Froncioni found himself the lone Bermudian among 14 Amlin staff headed to the small village of Ovihitua, nearly six hours from the capital of Windhoek, where outsiders are seldom seen.

Life there is comparatively austere for the 75 students, about 40 of whom are boarders at the school — but they now have a new cooking house, built by the Amlin team in five days with the help of a local contractor.

The group also donated equipment to the school, along with bedding supplies.

Camping in a dry riverbed, Mr Froncioni helped manage an Amlin team of seven from the UK, three from Belgium and three from the Netherlands, from September 19 to 25, working in harsh, hot, arid conditions. The team was a source of fascination for students in a tiny community unaccustomed to westerners, and who speak a regional dialect that kept most interaction at the level of hand gestures and facial expressions.

With the help of English-speaking teachers, Mr Froncioni was able to show children how he had travelled there, as well as describing life on a faraway green island — with the inevitable Bermuda Triangle question thrown in.

Their footwear intrigued many youngsters, who were accustomed to going barefoot, leading team members to reflect on their own lives.

“I couldn’t quite understand how they were all so happy,” Mr Froncioni said.

“It was a chance to analyse our own self-awareness, and the ways in which we can motivate the groups around us. Coming back to the office, you think, well, this is a much easier environment to work in.”