[GSBN] Bales for Haiti

[John Glassford]

G ' day

I feel that the key to rebuilding any areas is to give comfort to the people
that lost their homes.  Where possible that comfort should be that if it
happens again their new home will be safer from earthquakes.

Darcy Donovan has shown straw bale to be safe in an earthquake and in her
words if the people in Kashmir had been living in a straw bale home, like
the one they tested in Nevada then 100,000 lives would have been saved.

Is it possible that straw bales could be an option for some of the people
who do not live or do not want to live in high rise units?

I do not know and it would take advice from those on the ground.  At the
moment Rotary's ShelterBox have teams of Rotary men and women on the ground
and we get daily updates on the immediate requirements as many of our
30,000+ Rotary clubs around the world are raising funds right now for Haiti
and ShelterBoxes:

http://www.shelterbox.org/news.php?id=257

You will note that the rains are on the way and I quote:

"It is now five weeks since Haiti was rocked by a catastrophic earthquake
and there is still an urgent need for secure shelter which can stand up to
the Haitian climate.

ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) member Jane Nash has just returned to the UK
from Port au Prince. She says the importance of getting people into tents
cannot be underestimated.

‘The rains are going to be really hard and it's going to take a long time to
get transitional housing up and running. Our tents will withstand heavy
rain. Would you want to be in a tarpaulin sheet in a torrential downpour
when the ground will be soaked? The look on one woman’s face when I gave her
a tent was like it was the best thing she had ever had, ’said Jane."

I am sure that there will be a place for straw bale forget about the
insulation, just look at the earthquake potential, ease of build and plenty
of labour?

If straw is available then why not use it?

Kind regards
John Glassford
Huff 'n' Puff Constructions
http://www.glassford.com.au
61 2 6927 6027
In Australia (02) 6927 6027

Mountains of the Moon 2011
http://www.mountainsofthemoon.org
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