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Straw Bale House in Haiti

Instruments for Change for Haiti

Haiti's first ever straw house, built by Builders without Borders

Tina Therrien went to Haiti to join Builders without Borders to build a prototype straw bale home, the first ever in Haiti this past December. She spent three weeks there, and during her time, made connections in other communities with Haitians and other natural builders.

Tina will be returning to Haiti in early February to spend a couple of months researching natural building methods, participating in the completion of the straw bale house, working on compressed earth block buildings and developing other natural building methods that are suitable and accessible to Haitians. There is a lot of natural building occurring in Haiti, in addition to the construction of costly

imported and vinyl homes.

Annio and Jean-Louis, part of the BWB team, fasten rebar and hurricane X-bracing to the straw bale house.

Tina will spend time in two communities in particular in the Artibonite region of Haiti, Deslandes, and Verrettes- communities that have been working on rebuilding sustainably since before the earthquake with a Haitian organization, Centre d'Intervention Jeunesse . A vocational school is going to be opened in Verrettes, focusing on building more solid, sustainable homes with compressed earth blocks and natural materials. Students will learn to build using accessible, natural materials, and then participants have to return to their own communities to build a small house, with supervision & support from the school. This will ensure that sustainable, solid and sound building methods will be carried into other communities across the country.

Another town in the same region is opening a school of music. The arts are especially critical in a country like Haiti.

We need help! Donations of tools & instruments welcome!

Donations of musical instruments and of power tools and hand tools are needed to help rebuild these communities in Haiti. If you have a guitar or wind instrument just sitting around collecting dust, please consider passing it along for a real experience for the youth of Haiti. If you have a hand saw, or hammer, cordless drill or other tool (see list below) that you can part with, please help Haitians rebuild with proper tools. These instruments of change, be they musical or construction, will be essential for helping Haitians in the Artibonite Valley become more expressive and self-sufficient.

Kids will be kids...this group of children had a visit from Pere Noel on Christmas Day, and each was thrilled to receive a new stuffed toy.

Donations of instruments can be directed to Karen Soltan who can be contacted at ksoltan@pipcom.com , or 705-292-1284

If you prefer to donate funds towards the purchase of a musical instrument, or some tools, cheques can be sent to Tina Therrien, P.O. Box 61, Warsaw, ON K0L 3A0. A receipt will be issued. Tax receipts cannot be issued.  

Tools:

Cordless tools (drills, reciprocating saw, circular saw)

Impact drills

Corded tools (drills, circular saw, jigsaw)

Magnetic drill bit holders

Drill bits (Robertson and Phillips)

Grinders

Hammers

Tool belts

Chop saw

Wrenches

Screwdrivers

Extension cords

Sledge hammers

Crow bars

Pry bars

Shovels

Rakes

Pickaxes

Small table saw

Hand saws of various kinds

Chisels

Trowels

Buckets

Mixing paddles for drills

Paint brushes

Paint trays

Ear protectors

Safety goggles

Masks

Gloves