Rebuilding Nepal
Simply put, Nepali will use what they know and rebuild their village structures with the same masonry concepts which allowed them to collapse.
So, why are we doing this?
- We have been teaching vocation education in Haiti for 6 years through www.globalgroundwork.org in an effort to enable Haitians to rebuild Haiti.
- We do not want to see the same mistakes implemented in Haiti repeated in Nepal. We have witnessed many good intentioned people attempt to implement their 'good idea' in response to the earthquake in Haiti. Most of these concepts did not take into consideration local culture, local income, or local materials, and also took focus away from proper solutions for the immediate needs.
- We have a Facebook group of over 60 engineers, masons, builders all working toward a simple solution. We asked a question of the originator of Ubuntublox on what he thought could be done to easily strengthen existing village masonry against seismic forces, and from that initial discussion the Facebook group was formed. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1426280444347430/
- One village will begin live testing the concept, we are also building one here in the US for additional testing.
- Solution will be open-source, all materials we create will be available to anyone.
We seek funding to:1. Finish creating the education materials which includes:
- Short demo video (currently being worked on by volunteers)
- A step by step drawing on laminated sheets showing a simple addition to their traditional masonry techniques which will provide seismic resilience.
- Production of test buildings
2. Implementation of our logistical plan to promote the concept at the village level.
3. Continue to provide basic aid as needed.
The Impact: Nepali will rebuild, they are a resilient. They have found temporary solutions, from tin shacks to tarps and tents.
- Others are promoting temporary solutions, or solutions which have a cost over the yearly income for a family.
- We have built earthquake resistant structures out of garbage, organic material, and now masonry. Here is the shake testing from the garbage structure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex6bJ_0oShg
Challenges:
There are over 4200 village districts within Nepal, at varied elevations. Not all are affected by damage from the two major quakes. Logistics will be our greatest challenge
Other Ways You Can Help
Are you a mason? In Nepal? Maybe we can use your assistance