[Sdpg] Projects in Mexico, Thailand, Builders Without Borders 2008

Mon Oct 22 08:04:52 PDT 2007

Projects in Mexico, Thailand,  Builders Without Borders 2008

Our friends at World Hands are presenting a learning and service 
opportunity next March, in Anapra, Mexico, near El Paso.  It's a 
chance to connect with the people of a border community addressing 
sustainability issues, and to learn from Alfred von Bachmyr, a 
sustainability pioneer, designer, and innovator.  See the description 
and their website, below.

In January, Seven Generations Natural Builders is offering a 
workshop/service opportunity in Thailand.  They will be working with 
the Whispering Seed children's home and community.  Details for this 
project follow the World Hands announcement.

Derek Roff
Director, Builders Without Borders

If you wish to unsubscribe from this email list, use the following 
link.  Click on the Unsubscribe button, and enter the email address 
that you wish to unsubscribe.  If you or a friend wish to subscribe, 
use the same link. <http://builderswithoutborders.org/bwbnewslettersub/>

Wolrd Hands Project:

Las Hormigas Kitchen and Day Care Building Rehabilitation
Anapra, Chihuahua, Mexico
[on the USA-Mexico border across from Sunland Park, NM]
2-week workshop: March 1 - 15, 2008

Come join us for the 1st week, the 2nd week or both. $600 for either week,
$1100 for both weeks. We will be building a pallet truss roof system with
better insulation and weather protection, light straw-clay stuffed pallet
walls, and a bio-remediation system for waste kitchen water.

We may also be
including a composting toilet component and a swale system for storm-water
collection at the back of the property depending on group interest, number
of participants and building schedule. There will be hands-on learning and
plenty of time for questions.

We will have an immersion component to better
understand the Anapra context within which we work. This is Part One of a
series of projects to update this property with sustainable and natural
technologies for better comfort and utility for Las Hormigas, a social work
agency in Anapra.

Contact us at info at worldhandsproject.org  or Alfred von
Bachmayr at 505.989.7000 to request more information. Please visit our
website: www.worldhandsproject.org

<http://www.worldhandsproject.org/images/uploads/Las_Hormigas_flyer.pdf>

Natural Building in Thailand

Sangklaburi, Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand
January 5-18, 2008
January 21-February 2, 2008

In less than a decade, earth building has been embraced by many Thai 
communities as an appropriate building technology---economically, 
environmentally, socially, and spiritually. The speed by which earth 
construction has been adopted, the community support and training, 
and the number of homes and structures built provides an outstanding 
example and inspiration for those of us in industrialized countries. 
These two two-week natural building courses in Thailand will bring 
together Thai and non-Thai students to work on the building of a 
kitchen and children's play house at the Whispering Seed community.

As a collaboration with Whispering Seed ( www.whisperingseed.org ), a 
children's home and community living and learning center on the 
Thai-Burmese border, students will spend two weeks learning the 
fundamentals of earth construction, gaining an understanding of the 
characteristics of different sediments (clay, sand, silt), and how to 
use a variety of techniques to create earthen building 
materials----from abode block, to cob, to wattle and daub, plaster, 
and more. The Thailand courses are unique in several respects: the 
student body will combine Western students and local Thai, Burmese 
and Karen students to facilitate cross-cultural experiences and 
learning; construction of a kitchen and children's play building 
using earth and local resources at a Thai children's home is one of 
the purest examples of the possibilities and benefits of natural 
building in bringing people together as a community to help others; 
unlike most cob courses in temperate and desert North America, 
students will learn techniques for earth construction in tropical and 
subtropical climates incorporating bamboo, thatch, and round wood carpentry.

Tuition covers room and board at Whispering Seed, as well as 
subsidizes the Thai, Burmese and Karen students' participation. 
Tuition for one of the two-week courses is $1000, for students that 
wish to enroll in both classes the total tuition is $1500.
Enrollment is limited to 10 foreign students per workshop and because 
of travel/logistic issues the enrollment deadline is December 7, 2007.

<http://sgnb.createsend.com/viewEmail.aspx?cID=492C3802C3BFB79E&sID=E60BC81625A70172&dID=5CB9CB5A1CE688CE>

The Whispering Seed

Please check out The Whispering Seed ( www.whisperingseed.org) 
website to learn more about this great organization.  They are a U.S. 
registered non-profit charitable organization providing care and 
learning opportunities for refugee children, displaced people, and 
ethnic minorities on the Thai-Burma border.  Their aim is to share 
new models for sustainable living and learning while supporting 
traditional wisdom and local knowledge systems.
They will be posting additional workshops for 2008 soon.