[Cob] cob in Haiti

[Henry Raduazo]

Nilsa: I have a friend (Desta) who went to Haiti to build earth bag  
houses. When he got there the group he was with were told or decided  
that earth bag construction would cause too much erosion. That sounds  
suspicious and even bogus to me. Take a look at "Rainwater Harvesting  
for Drylands and Beyond" by Brad Lancaster: If you can farm a piece  
of land or build on it, it seems to me that you can dig water  
harvesting trenches, and if you can do that you can build with cob or  
earth bags, but I might be wrong that is why I would like to talk to  
someone who is there or who has been there.
	My feeling is that we should do nothing for Haitians that they can  
do for them selves. What might be more appropriate is to send someone  
to Haiti who understands appropriate technology:  Cob, earth bag,  
rainwater harvesting, Lorna stoves, humanure... to see which  
technologies really apply. Then we need to train a number of Creole  
speaking teachers and pay their salaries to go around and teach for a  
year. Then assess this program to see if it is having any effect.
	I am not the best person for that job, but theoretically I have the  
money, the time and the ability to go to Haiti and teach classes in  
all of the above but in English not Creole and considering the  
circumstances I fear that my efforts would have little effect. I  
would do better by just sending the money that I would have spent on  
the air fair.

Ed
On Nov 15, 2010, at 11:24 AM, Nilsa~ wrote:

> 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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