[Strawbale] BWB Newsletter

["BWBNewsletter" <BWBNewsletter@lists....com>]

December 2002

Dear Friends of Builders Without Borders,

We send you wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season.  As
we at Builders Without Borders come to the end of a challenging year, we
find our work is more urgent than ever.

Since our founding in December 1999, Builders Without Borders (BWB) has
formed a dynamic team of ecological builders dedicated to solving global
homelessness by teaching local populations to build their own homes from
locally available raw materials.  We form partnerships with
communities and organizations around the world and advocate the use of
straw, earth, and other affordable materials for home construction, to
decrease reliance on expensive, and often unavailable, 
alternatives.

We envision humankind working together in a ?global village,? with
cross-cultural understanding and goodwill.  Towards this end we aim
to make major impacts with minimum expenditure.  Wherever possible,
we provide aid through email consultation, technical literature, videos
and securing local assistance.  When an on-site team is required,
our focus is on projects that can be replicated and offer hands-on
training within the region.  In 2003 we will be expanding these
educational opportunities.

For a young, minimally funded organization, we are proud of our
accomplishments over the past three years.  Currently, we are
working with the US-Afghanistan Reconstruction Council on a plan to
rebuild homes in Afghanistan.  We have implemented projects on
Native American land and on both sides of the U.S./Mexico border. 
We provided technical support to projects in China, Ethiopia, Chile, and
Kirghizstan, and worked with the United Nations Development Program to
support a Mongolian research team.

In the past year BWB members have presented at numerous workshops,
conferences, schools and exhibitions.  In spring 2002, I presented
our work at Tenri University in Japan.  We exhibited on the
Washington D.C. Mall during Afghanistan Day, at the New Mexico Solar
Energy Associations? Solar Fiesta in Albuquerque, at the Opportunities
for Affordable Housing Conference in El Paso, the Western New Mexico
Renewable Energy Fair in Gallup and at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair
in Wisconsin.

Currently we are finalizing the guidebook Building Without Borders:
Sustainable Construction for the Global Village, due out in 2003 from
New Society Publishers.  We also have a video and a CD ROM under
development.  Our new website at
www.BuildersWithoutBorders.org
is nearing completion (please visit our site in January 2003, for the
latest updates).

We have accomplished much in the past three years, but we need your
support to continue doing good work in the future.  Please consider
a tax-deductible donation to become a member of Builders Without Borders
in one of the following categories: $25 Contributor, $50 Donor, $75
Sponsor, $100 Business/Partner, $500 or more, Angel.  Please make
checks payable to Builders Without Borders and mail to 119 Main Street,
Kingston, New Mexico, 88042.

If you?d like to make a credit card donation, or have questions, please
email <BWB@zianet...>, or call 505-895-5268.  Thank 
you.

With Sincere Regards,
Joseph F. Kennedy, Director






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