Wednesday, October 27, 2010

House in a Box

From a 2 story 190 square foot house,
to a 4'x8'x2.5' box, 1200 lbs.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Shelter Walkthrough Perspective

--
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
"...more than 70 percent of camps in Haiti, home to an estimated 1.3 million earthquake victims, lack proper international management nearly nine months after the disaster, leaving them at increased risk of sexual and gang violence, hunger and forced eviction."
"At the end of June, Macy's put in an order for 20,000 products. The company says it hopes to break even or make a small profit from selling the items on its website and at 25 stores across the country."

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Roof and Door Assembly

 The last two days have been spent assembling the door and roof panels. Cutting the panels with a CNC router saved us much time and effort, and we were very excited to see the results. Today we are working on assembling wall panels, windows, and vents.  We have been provided with excellent staff and equipment at our partner manufacturer NW Packaging's facility and we are greatly appreciative of it. More pictures are to come as we continue our assembly process.

 As eviction deadlines are past due in many shelter camps in Port-au-Prince we are steadily working to respond as quickly as possible.


"Oxfam calls for shift in international trade policies to help Haiti rebuild itself"
 The Jan 12th earthquake caused a disruption in agricultural production in rural areas, and Haiti's government has developed an agricultural plan backed by Oxfam that has yet to receive needed funds from international communities. "'Currently, U.S. rice subsidies and in-kind food aid undercut Haitian farmers at the same time as the U.S. government is investing in Haitian agricultural development. The international community must abandon these conflicting trade and aid policies in order to support the growth of Haiti's fragile rural economy' said Philippe Mathieu, [Oxfam Country Director in Haiti]" See article: Agriculture Must Be a Priority for Haiti Reconstruction Efforts by PRNewswire


 Meanwhile in Pakistan UNHCR and United Arab Emirates Red Crescent have launched a joint project to deliver basic domestic items such as "tents, plastic sheets blankets, sleeping mats, quilts, kitchen stes, jerry cans, plastic buckets, mosquito nets, soap and plastic rolls".
See article: http://beta.brecorder.com/section/37/1/1108762:unhcr-uae-launch-shelter-programme-for-flood-victims.html by Business Recorder