The Rammed Earth House Project

Start Date:   February 1, 2008
Main Contact:   Adam Howland
Project Manager:   Mateo Paneitz, E.D.
Current Status:   In progress

Purpose

To practice rammed earth construction, create additional staff housing at Parque Chimiyá, and provide a house for a local indigenous family

Description

As Long Way Home's volunteer and internship program attracts more people, the need for on-site housing increases.   A neighbor living near Parque Chimiyá offered to let us rent an abandoned structure on his property.   The adobe house was uninhabitable in its current state, leading Long Way Home to make an arrangement with the owner of the property.   We will reconstruct the house if the family will allow it to be used as staff housing for two years, after which point the family will have the new home for themselves.   During these two years, additional volunteer and staff housing will be built at the site of the new vocational school.

Environmental Contribution

Rammed earth is an alternative construction technique that uses discarded tires as building materials.   The tires are filled with dirt found on the property and then stacked to form walls.   Through the construction of this house, local Comalapans will be able to participate in rammed earth construction, thereby learning this simple building technique that is low in cost ($0.60 per tire), uses locally available materials, and provides an environmentally friendly way to use items that would otherwise be sitting in a landfill.

Click here if you would like to help donate toward the develpment of this project or just make a general donation to the vitality of the project. Long Way Home appreciates your contributions and interest in helping make the world a better place.