| Sustainable Technology | |
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GRA's pursuit of sustainable technologies, focused in the rural Tanzanian village of Kinesi, is still in its infancy. Included under this heading are future projects in solar energy, wind energy, jatropha oil cook stoves and compressed earth block construction. In early 2006, we completed our first sustainable housing project using compressed earth block. Bricks are generally manufactured in Kinesi Village by forming blocks from soil high in clay content and then firing them for 24 hours in large, outdoor, mud-covered stacks. The resulting bricks are irregular, brittle and generally have to be carried, usually on one's head or the back of a bicycle, a considerable distance from the firing site to the construction site. Worse yet, the process exacerbates the already severe problem of deforestation and diminishes air quality in the village. We heard about a motorized compressed earth block machine manufactured by a South African company called HydraForm. It was advertised to produce about 1,000 interlocking bricks per day that could be stacked without mortar for the first 12 to 15 courses, saving a considerable amount of time and money in the construction of a dwelling. We decided to build an experimental house using these bricks and donate it to someone in the village. Fortunately, we were able to rent a HydraForm machine from Madaraka Nyerere, youngest son of Tanzania's founding father, Julius Nyerere. UVIMAKI Rural Development Association, one of our local partners, chose a woman named Agnes to receive the donated home. She is over 70 years and was living at the time with two AIDS orphans of primary school age in a one room, mud and stick home. The older boy, Sheban, fishes in Lake Victoria, and sells whatever fish is left over after satisfying the nutritional needs of the household. On a good month, the family may earn a mere seven or eight dollars. Agnes was overjoyed upon completion of the house which ended up costing a total of just under $3,500. While the final product was quite acceptable, we decided that a manual earth block press was more appropriate for the area, considering the high initial cost of the HydraForm equipment and ongoing expense for fuel, maintenance and transport - not to mention the noise pollution and air pollution that accompanies its use. In March, 2007 a volunteer from GRA and a brick
maker from Kinesi Village will undergo two weeks of training at
Auroville, India in the use of their highly acclaimed Auram 3000
earth block press. If the equipment meets our expectations, GRA
will import one or two presses to Kinesi to be used by village-organized
sustainable building cooperatives.
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Agnes's new compressed earth block home along side her former dwelling
