Project Somos is establishing a village for abandoned and orphaned children in Guatemala near the town of Tecpán. The Village will have seven homes with Guatemalan Foster Mothers raising a household of children. The family homes are being built using earthbag construction. This eco-sustainable Village will use alternative power, and will have organic agriculture & orchards. The Village is being designed in collaboration with an architectural intern from the University of San Carlos, Guatemala. Education, leadership and arts will be key focuses of The Children’s Village. The Village will work hand in hand with the local Guatemalan community. Project Somos is collaborating with Seres Centre to promote best practice sustainability learning and leadership throughout Guatemala.
There will be seven houses within the Village and each will be home to a Guatemalan Foster Mother and up to seven children. The homes were designed in collaboration with the Rhode Island School of Design. Each home will have four bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, eating area, pantry, garden and two washrooms. The bedrooms will be gender specific and will have up to three children in each, depending on their ages. The Mothers will maintain the homes and the children will participate with household and village chores. Daily family meals will take place in each home. The homes will be powered by alternative technology. Grey water will be recycled.
Source: Somos Children’s Village
Previous blog post about this project
(Be sure to read the comments on the previous post if you’re interested in the details. It took them 2-3 weeks to fill the bags of each house. That’s 150 linear meters per day with about 9 workers.)
This is a very nice design.