Building Global Villages
by Marsha Scarbrough
Natural Home magazine, Volume V, Number 4, July/August 2003.
Builders Without Borders is an international network of ecological builders who create affordable housing from local materials. These hands-on humanitarians believe the solution for homelessness lies in training local populations to provide housing for themselves. A non-profit organization, BWB has accomplished impressive feats since its 1999 inception under the leadership of author and teacher Joseph Kennedy, architect Alfred von Bachmayr, video producer and author Catherine Wanek, and other natural builders.
BWB has undertaken the following projects:
Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico: partnered with the National Indian Youth Leadership Project to build a straw bale hogan.
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: earth-plaster workshop; volunteers built a straw bale house for a family who lost their home in a fire, using wooden shipping pallets as roof trusses.
El Paso, Texas: straw bale wall-raising at the Tierra Madre development.
Northern China: donated teaching materials to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency for a straw bale housing project.
Ethiopia: donated teaching materials to Voluntary Services Overseas for a straw research project.
Future projects:
Afghanistan: train Afghans in natural building techniques.
Gallup, New Mexico: develop a coalition of housing organizations to address Navajo Reservation housing shortages.
Wadi Na'am, Israel: provide technical support for the construction of a straw bale medical clinic to serve Israel's Bedouin population.
(For information about BWB membership, cross-cultural workshops, or making tax-deductible donations, visit www.BuildersWithoutBorders.org or call 505 895-5400.)
BWB is an international network of ecological builders working together for a sustainable future.