For the past few months and for the next few months, my middle name is TENTS. Through aHomeInHaiti.org we have now provided more tents than nearly any other relief organization or country in the world. With the hurricane season coming in a month, long term solutions cannot come fast enough and more tents are needed.
However, we are making plans for phases 2 & 3 of our project and need your help.
Find me every article and image and link you can about innovative, sustainable, long term housing solutions in Haiti and post them in the comments section. When possible add some contact information for the provider too.
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We are working on an Immediate, Sustainable, and Permanent solution at the Haiti Housing Project . Feel free to review our concept, download architectural files and get into contact at http://www.haitihousingproject.org .
Not only will our solution provide immediate shelter to quake victims, but it is designed to foster community, create security, foster schooling and aid the economy.
In addition, our designers and architects can modify our designs to suit almost any purpose and size.
I am having trouble with the link. Is the site working right now?
Check this blog post:
http://rminethaiti.blogspot.com/2010/03/rain-in-p...
RMI has been in Haiti for years. They know the Haitian churches in southern Haiti. I don't know what their plan is for housing, but I know that I have something in mind that is in the best interest for Haitians. I have heard that their plans include hiring Haitians to do as much of the work as possible. That means both housing and paying jobs for Haitians. I have heard of other plans that would build housing in the States and transport it to Haiti. That provides US jobs, but not Haitian jobs.
Shipping containers. I know they're not the easiest to get there but if there are unused ones sitting in the port they can be converted into homes. Here's just a few links – some not specific to Haiti but showing houses made out of the shipping containers.
http://www.jetsongreen.com/2010/02/green-shipping...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/1001...
http://www.tonic.com/article/clemson-seed-project...
http://firmitas.org/
Much talk of this solution. Looking for someone doing in Haiti now. Know anybody?
Here is a company that I have been looking at to build here in Kenya.
http://www.hydraform.com/
Tell me more Joshua. I clicked on the link, but I would like your laymen's breakdown please.
Since the earthquake I have met with countless housing folks and my favorite is Shelter2Home. http://www.shelter2home.com/ I like them because the premise is simple and all the building can be done by Haitians.
Thanks! I love this. Looking for prices and more details. Are they using them on the ground yet in Haiti?
Check out http://www.lifeline.org/projects/HomesForHaiti.ht... Lifeline Christian Mission has been working on the ground in Haiti for 30 years, and have a 7-acre complex in Grand Goave, as well as a children's home in Port au Prince area and churches and schools throughout the country. Founders Bob and Gretchen DeVoe are dynamos doing amazing things in Christ's name in Haiti, Honduras, El Salvador, and Cuba. Also see Lifeline Christian Mission on Facebook and LifelineCM on Twitter. LOVE what you're doing, Shaun! Your passion is contagious.
Have you worked with Lifeline before?
(Sorry for the delayed reply) Yes, I have volunteered with Lifeline for 7 or 8 years, and my husband is on their Board of Directors. I went to Haiti on a ladies' mission trip with Lifeline in 2008, and it changed my life forever and gave me a passion to help Haiti and the incredible Haitian people. Lifeline knows the "lay of the land" in Haiti and has a wide network of contacts throughout the country. After the earthquake, Lifeline's Grand Goave complex became a base of operations for the U.S. Navy's work in the area. Based on their experience with Lifeline, the U.S. military asked them to oversee food distribution in the area surrounding LIfeline's Port au Prince Children's Home. If you go to Lifeline.org and click on "Relief Effort Updates," you can scroll down to see stories of some of the partnerships Lifeline has developed in Haiti, including the U.S. military, Kids Against Hunger, Impact Lives, Meals from the Heartland, etc. For several years, Lifeline has served as a conduit to distribute food to around 40 other mission organizations throughout Haiti. In mid-March, Lifeline hosted a visit from Lt. General Ken Keen (3 star general) U.S. Army Rangers, who is head of the entire U.S. military operation for Haiti. He is the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Southern Command throughout the Americas. He had asked to see Lifeline's work there. Founders Bob and Gretchen DeVoe are visionaries and big thinkers like you, Shaun.
Shaun — more info. on Lifeline's "Homes for Haiti" program:
- All materials are purchased locally in Haiti (in Grand Goave, in Lifeline's case)
- Even the steel for the roofing system is purchased from a Haitian mill
- Cement blocks are fabricated locally
- Sand and stone used for concrete flooring are from the local area
- The 75 bags of cement needed per house is made in Haiti
- Only the corrugated roofing is imported, but even that is purchased locally
- All labor is local Haitian labor, with the assistance of Lifeline's short-term "Laborlink" mission work team members when available. But homes are built on an ongoing basis in Haiti, even when no U.S. work teams are present.
- Masonry construction is a benefit since masonry is a more common skill in Haiti than carpentry for the local work force.
- Being able to build these houses on relatively small lots of land is a benefit since land acquisition can be difficult in Haiti.
When I spoke with Bob DeVoe of Lifeline about this last week, I asked him if their approach to home-building in Haiti is scalable and reproducible throughout the country, and he said, "Absolutely. Especially if masonry workers are available." Bob also said that Lifeline would be happy to share house plans and information about their program with other interested organizations that might want to replicate the approach. Through the years, Bob has investigated and evaluated many, many different plans and ideas for building homes in Haiti and has settled on their approach as the most cost-effective and do-able long-term solution.
If you are interested in finding out more or talking with Bob directly, feel free to e-mail me with your e-mail address, and I will pass it on to Bob (probably will more easily cut through the volume of his e-mail if we do it that way.)