[Scpg] Straw-Bale, Low Income Housing Workshop - Anapra, Mexico March 8th-19th, 2004

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Straw-Bale, Low Income Housing Workshop - Anapra, Mexico
March 8th-19th, 2004

Builders Without Borders, in conjunction with the World Hands Project and 
Casa de la Cruz announce a work experience opportunity in Anapra, a 
"colonia" of Juarez, Mexico.

Project Managers from BWB and the World Hands Project will lead an 
intensive twelve day (10 1/2 work days) workshop to build a straw-bale home 
for a local family. This is an opportunity to learn about natural building 
by doing, while experiencing life in this border community.

This workshop will include all stages of straw-bale construction beginning 
with site preparations, bale raising, window/door buck, bond beam and 
pallet truss installation, wall pinning and strapping, straw ceiling 
insulation, roof assembly,electrical wiring and earthen plastering.

All participants will interact daily with the family whose house is being 
built, work side-by-side with local Mexican builders and a group of college 
volunteers from St. Mark's Parish in Independence, Missouri.

Cost is $695, including meals, dorm-style housing and instruction by 
facilitators who will be sharing the same housing. The workshop offers 
participants the opportunity to interact with local residents, learn about 
building in challenged environments and impact the lives of our neighbors 
across the border. We offer a limited number of scholarships, please 
contact us if you require financial assistance.

Contact: Builders Without Borders to register at 505-895-5400, or for more 
information call Jeff Cygan of the World Hands Project at 541-754-9606.

More About Builders Without Borders (BWB), the World Hands Project and the 
Anapra Project:

BWB is a non-profit organization that began its operations in 1999 and 
consists of a group of natural builders concerned about housing people of 
need around the world. Our mission is to increase the availability of 
affordable and sustainable, transitional and permanent housing around the 
world, in partnership with local communities.

One of Builders Without Border's goals is to train local builders to build 
their own shelter through cooperative building projects. We promote the use 
of straw, earth and other natural materials with the goal of decreasing the 
reliance on expensive and often unavailable alternatives. We also recognize 
that such housing solutions will necessarily be as varied as the 
communities and individuals involved.

The World Hands Project is a team of natural builders lead by Santa Fe 
architect Alfred vonBachmayr. The World Hands Project is committed to 
empowering individuals and communities by developing co-creation models 
designed for local cultures. Based on specific project goals, these models 
provide a variety of services from effective shelter and food production, 
to waste and water systems while using natural and local resources. All of 
our models are culturally appropriate, economically profitable, and 
environmentally sound. World Hands strives to address basic human needs and 
quality of life issues with every project we accept.

The Anapra Project: The community of Anapra is along the border outside 
Juarez, Mexico and is the home of many families who have left their homes 
in other parts of Mexico and came to the area in search of a better life. 
They live in houses made of discarded shipping pallets covered with tar 
paper and with uninsulated roofs. Such homes are sweltering in the summer 
and freezing in the winter. Straw bales, locally available for about $1 
each, are proving to be a comfortable and affordable alternative. Anapra 
alone has almost 20,000 residents and Juarez is home to more than 200 such 
"colonias" which are mostly inhabited by factory workers, working just 
south of the border.

BWB has assisted in the building of four homes for local families. The 
houses are intended to demonstrate to the residents, how to build 
comfortable, well-insulated, low-cost homes out of natural and recycled 
materials. They are designed to make use of passive solar heating and 
utilize shipping pallets to fabricate roof trusses. The straw-bale walls 
rise from simple foundations, the walls are finished with earthen plasters.

The continuing program incorporates aspects developed by Alfred vonBachmayr 
which include micro-credit lending for economic development and home 
mortgages. Recipient families are required to contribute time to building 
their homes and running community programs. Employment for local community 
members is created building components for the houses and supporting 
building groups that come to Anapra. The program is intended to build cross 
cultural relations while empowering a community through enterprise and the 
creation of comfortable housing.

Donations to BWB are tax deductible. For more information or to become a 
member of BWB, visit our website at: www.BuildersWithoutBorders.org.

For more information regarding the World Hands Project email us at 
worldhandsproject at yahoo.com (our website will be up soon)