In March 2011, New Leaf sent a team of allies and supporters to Haiti to construct an Earthbag building for our partners GrassRoots United. Earthbag buildings are built primarily from polypropylene bags, dirt and rubble. For two weeks, New Leaf worked extensively with Haitian volunteers to train them in the building process and transfer knowledge to their community. The structure built will house a septic and bathroom system which will be used by international aid organizations visiting the site. Serving as a working prototype, organizations will be able to determine if this technique and technology can be applied to their own work happening throughout Haiti. Earthbag buildings are simple and scalable solutions for post-disaster housing in areas hardest hit by natural disasters. The team will continue work in Haiti this summer and are currently approaching various funding organizations to support future development.
This project addresses the most pressing problems in Haiti all at once — sanitation, recycling waste into fertilizer, job creation — in a scalable, sustainable building solution. Very impressive indeed.