[Strawbale] Bales for Haiti

[Sara Tommerup]

I think manual baling machines had been successfully used in Pakistan
after the Earthquake, and is still being used. It is supposed to be
very simple and can be build on Tahiti. And if I remember correctly,
they use rice straw as well. But contact PAKSBAB for that.

Sara Tommerup

On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 8:04 PM, RT <ArchiLogic at yahoo...> wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:06:58 -0500, Derek Roff <derek at unm...> wrote:
>
>> It looks like a team of three people will be heading to Haiti in early
>> March to build a prototype strawbale building, as part of the relief
>> efforts.  Builders Without Borders is trying to support and collaborate
>> (with this and other projects).  An immediate need is a source of straw
>> and/or bales.  There is rice grown in Haiti, but no evidence of bales,
>> and unknown quantities of available straw.  Hand baling, or rebaling,
>> may be necessary.
>
>
> I am ambivalent about the idea of parachuting a team of "foreigners"
> heading to Haiti to build them some SB homes.
>
> The "other" side wonders how appropriate SB-walled buildings might be for
> that locale/climate and how the instant buildings might fit into the
> culture, assuming that the structures are intended to have a long service
> life beyond that of emergency shelters.
>
> In Haiti as is the case in most other places, I suspect that it is the
> roof that is the more critical component in creating shelter and unless
> the Team is building vaulted structures, straw /bales would play a minimal
> role in the creation of those roofs.
>
> Those concerns notwithstanding, I also wonder if it might be more helpful
> in the long term to send a baling machine rather than just a shipment of
> bales, my understanding (from very brief Google-ing in the days following
> the destruction) being that Haiti grew more than enough rice to be
> self-sufficient.
>
> ie Showing Haitians how to build SB buildings using imported straw and/or
> bales won't do them much good once the Team goes home.
>
> On the other hand, if they are provided with a baling machine, then they
> can produce bales using whatever locally-available materials exist,
> whether it be rice straw or some other cellulosic "waste" material.
>
> The baler would have to be modified slightly perhaps, so that rather than
> being hauled around a field by a tractor, it might remain stationary, with
> the baling stock being fed into it by a small conveyor, and perhaps the
> baler and conveyor being powered by a stationary engine or human or beast
> of burden power.
>
> I suspect that the funds to purchase the baler, conveyor,  etc. might be
> able to be raised from fund-raising initiatives on the SB lists.
>
>
>
>
> --
> === * ===
> Rob Tom
> Kanata, Ontario, Canada
> <A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a >
> (manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "Reply")
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