[GSBN] Earthen floor sealer in Haiti. Use oil (not blood) . . .

[martin hammer]

Hello all,

Below are thoughts from an important member of our BWB strawbale team in
Haiti regarding the idea of using blood as a sealer / hardener for the
earthen floor.  Regine Laroche is an architect and the only Haitian member
of our design team.  The informative GSBN discussion about this included two
of our builders in Haiti, Andy Mueller (lead builder and initiator of the
discussion) and Tina Therrien (who is doing the finish floor), and
eventually led to an internal discussion about how we would finish the
floor.  Blood was being considered, and after biting my tongue (but not to
the point of bleeding) I expressed my preference for not using blood on the
floor of this building.  It didn¹t feel right to me personally (note: I¹m
not vegetarian) and I questioned how it would be received by Haitians (as
did Derek Roff from BWB).  So I put the question to Regine and here is her
response:


Subject: Re: Floor finish.  Use oil (not blood) . . .

Hello

Touchy, touchy subject!
I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years, and personally find the idea
highly distasteful.  It's true that no animal will likely be killed
specifically for that reason, and in some respect the notion of recycling
ironically applies here.  However, we are talking about a substance that
carries the very essence of life itself- even to the point that we humans go
to great lengths to store it up and transfer it  from original "donors" to
"recipients" for life-saving purposes.
More importantly, it seems to me the issue of cultural biases you pointed
out, Martin, is KEY.  I will venture to say that if you do use blood as part
of  finishing procedures for the floor, chances run HIGH that people will
perceive this in a totally different light and associate it with ritual
sacrifice and even the so-called "dark arts" (notice: I didn't say "vodou",
a term many allow themselves to use without having ever bothered to
seriously research its actual content).  Remember, we are dealing with a
culture that believes everything is endowed with consciousness and that
beyond the end of physical life, some subtle essence (soul or energy)
persists.  I'll be curious to observe the fate of a house people know to
have been treated in such manner.
I have never heard of such practices in construction here, but since many
things  no doubt escape my radar, I have asked a few people more familiar
than myself with local traditional construction practices.  All had never
heard of it either and were shocked at the prospect.

Food for thought!

Regine L.


You can follow the preceding thread below if you like, including my
ponderings and Tina¹s thoughtful considerations, but suffice it to say, the
subject is quite charged in Haitian culture.  I¹ll broaden this to say that
it points to the importance of considering culture and context in all
building decisions, including materials, how they are used, and of course
all aspects of functional and aesthetic design, including matters of
symbolism and meaning.  It¹s not to say one can never go against or try to
break through cultural bias if one believes they have good reason (including
in one¹s own culture, as we often do with strawbale itself!), but it should
be done knowingly, with good and wise intention, and understanding of
consequences.

Martin Hammer


On 18-Mar-11, at 4:31 AM, martin hammer wrote:
> 
>> Dear Tina,
>> 
>> If it's not too late I want to strongly encourage that oil, not blood be
>> used to finish the floor and make it more durable.  Although I know blood is
>> used in various parts of the world for this purpose, using blood seems
>> philosophically wrong to me for this building (or maybe any building).  To
>> rely on fresh blood from another living creature to finish the floor, when
>> vegetable or mineral materials also work (even if the creature was to be
>> slaughtered anyway), seems antithetical to what I think our work as natural
>> and sustainable builders espouses.  I'm not vegetarian, but it still feels
>> wrong to me.  I've remained silent on this, but have struggled with this
>> feeling and it hasn't gone away.  I've copied others on this for their
>> thoughts.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Martin


On 3/18/11 7:23 AM, "Tina Therrien" <strawbus at auracom.com> wrote:

> It's not too late. Floor is still drying (the half to be plastered tomorrow,
> now that we have materials here again:)
> 
> The idea of blood for the finish was in part because of discussions about
> plaster finishes, out of an uncertainty of what oils are even available
> locally (and how they work as a hardener) and out of a curiosity to know how
> it actually was traditionally used in finishes & plasters. I didn't want to
> use a product/material that would require an animal to be killed, but started
> thinking about it more seriously due to the fact that there really is a cow
> that is slaughtered weekly just down the road from GrassRoots. That does seem
> natural to me, to use materials that are locally present in the community. But
> I wasn't sold on it, more curious. It certainly isn't ethical to kill animals
> solely to have plaster materials, but for me, I was comfortable using blood
> from an animal that was going to be slaughtered regardless of our plaster
> finish. Honestly, I wasn't sure how it would 'feel' to use blood, but I am
> still quite interested in knowing traditionally how it was applied. I forgot
> to pick up coconut oil, but will do so over the next few days, unless there is
> a better oil/finish idea that comes up in the various conversations about
> this.
> 
> cheers,
> tina


From: martin hammer <mfhammer at pacbell.net>
To: Tina Therrien <strawbus at auracom.com>
Cc: Andy Mueller <info at greenspacecollaborative.com>; Catherine Wanek
<mail at builderswithoutborders.org>; Derek Roff <derek at unm.edu>; Regine
Laroche <anakaite at yahoo.com>; Mark Phillips <mrppy1 at gmail.com>
Sent: Fri, March 18, 2011 12:31:42 PM
Subject: Re: Floor finish.  Use oil (not blood) . . .

Thanks Tina.  I know this brings up issues about what is ³natural²,
including the notion that blood is natural, especially in the case where as
you say a cow is slaughtered weekly, locally and that this is part of the
society and culture.  I really do appreciate that aspect of it.  I also
appreciate that you say it would be unethical to kill an animal solely for
this purpose, which I assumed you and everyone else would say.  So I don¹t
want to be naïve or falsely pure about this.  Death is part of life (is that
a legitimate view here), and if this slaughter will occur anyway, then one
could say the blood would just go to waste (presumably), so why not use it
for good purpose.  Maybe there is already a history of use of blood in
plaster and earthen floors in Haiti, especially in rural areas.  Can you ask
some of the Haitians there about any history, and what they think about
using blood in this manner regardless of its history?  There may be strong
cultural bias, either for or against.  (Regine, could you please weigh in on
this?)  I¹m being very careful about this, especially for this model
building, as it tends to set precedent (and may even encourage undue
slaughter for a future building?).  My own instinct is still against, but
I¹ll remain open to a full exploration of all sides, including but not only
its effectiveness, which I think it deserves.

Thanks.

Martin



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