[Cob] cob in Haiti

[Nicolas di Tada]

It's great to see this topic showing up. 

I was in Haiti a few days after the earthquake and it was very sad to see thousands of healthy survivors that had lost their homes, with nothing to do, just waiting for help or for someone to tell them what to do. At that moment I thought about cob as the perfect solution, but I'm not an expert at all, and seeing the way they are building their shelters months after the quake, made me believe that for some reason cob was not suitable there. It might be simply that they just don't know how to do it and none is there to teach them.

If there is any organization willing to coordinate the work and with connections on the ground, I'm willing to volunteer and support any effort around teaching them cob building.

On Nov 15, 2010, at 10:26 AM, Dulane wrote:

> I don't know about elevation and ground water issues, but I think that earth
> bag could be done effectively over there. I've been watching the videos on
> TV for materials, and I believe they just need more cement crushers to build
> a whole community of earth bag dwellings. I love cob, but it isn't the
> answer for areas without good drainage. 
> 
> Maybe they just need poly bags and mauls to crunch up that broken concrete
> and cinder block. I'd love to go over and help with a house project, but
> since I'm pushing 60 with a few health issues, I don't think I'd be that
> much of an asset. (Where would I sleep at night and could I stay healthy?)
> I'd be willing to donate something to that kind of a project however, like
> some rolls of ply bag.
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coblist-bounces at deatech.com [mailto:coblist-bounces at deatech.com] On
> Behalf Of Nilsa~
> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2010 8:25 AM
> To: Henry Raduazo
> Cc: Cob List
> Subject: Re: [Cob] cob in Haiti
> 
> Hi list..
> I've been watching and reading this group for over a year but have never
> responded to anything until now.
> 
> I'll be joining a group going back to Haiti in January for a site
> assessments in both Ley Cayes and Santo's for AG and Natural building
> assessments.
> 
> Specifically I would like to ask the group if they know of any groups or
> NGO's etc who have earth bag / cob projects up and running in Haiti. My
> heart is geared towards earth bags because its quicker and our folks can go
> out and teach another..I have hands on but no one else in the group has so I
> thought while there I can SHOW them... a picture is worth a thousand words
> but if you can see it, touch it and see the potential for yourselves, then
> that's empowerment, and empowerment creates motion.
> 
> Thanks for your time.
> 
> Peace and blessings,
> nilsa
> 
> On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 9:22 AM, Henry Raduazo <raduazo at cox.net> wrote:
> 
>>       I was wondering: Are there any cobbers on this list in Haiti? I
> have
>> been talking to a non-cob person who has been there. I am trying to get a
>> picture of what is going on. It sounds to me like they need to train a
> team
>> of Creole speaking people that know cob building, Lorna stove
> construction,
>> Humanure, Rainwater Harvesting, permaculture skills and retaining wall
>> building skills. There is plenty of Urbanite to work with and there
> appears
>> to be plenty of clay and grass or hay.
>>       It is hard to imagine a peasant culture that can't build their own
>> homes or grow their own food, but that is what seems to exist in Haiti.
>> 
>> Ed
>> 
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