On September 19, 2017 the of community Hueyapan in Morelos, Mexico was devastated by an earthquake. The Center for Encounters and Dialogues, www.tierramadre.org.mx and www.moradasverdes.com have started with the reconstruction in Hueyapan. A little more than a month after the earthquake, and two weeks after the first house was started with Superadobe, the foundation and the beginning of the walls of a two-bedroom house were already in place. The house is being built with the contribution of the people of Hueyapan and with the support of the above organizations.
Building houses is very important, but also, strengthening the social fabric at this time is important. The commitment to community interaction is based on learning by doing, and in co-responsibility and collaborative work; only in this way can they go from welfare to the self-management of development actions.
The community network, Tierra Madre, are people and families from the community of Hueyapan Morelos, and other communities in the region, which are organized for the production of organic food. With the advice of the Meeting and Dialogue Center, they started work with the aim of being eco-families. This means that their sanitation system is ecological, with about 120 families using compost toilets.
“We do all this for the love of Mother Earth.” says Elga Flores, a member of Tierra Madre Hueyapan, with the main motivation to get involved in organic farming and the sale of organic products in solidarity with the schools in Cuernavaca. From the September 2017 earthquake, they have played a central role in reconstruction with sustainable technologies and local and culturally appropriate materials. They also use wood-burning stoves and small family gardens that are the basis of our their current production. They are currently producing organic vegetables and fruits and organic eggs.
They have collected donations in money from friends, family and acquaintances as well as help from Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and the United States. You can also participate in reconstruction in Hueyapan through volunteer work or donations.
I will post the progress what I have the chance.
Thanks.
Hi there
The bags shown are not pre-filled. We just had to “storage” the dirt somehow. We did not have too much room for the piles of dirt, so we put it in the bags. When needed the dirt, we emptied the bags back into our big pile to moist it properly.
Okay, I understand.
Owen, thought this was important to share. New research is predicting that more major earthquakes are due in 2018 & beyond due to change in earths rotation.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/18/2018-set-to-be-year-of-big-earthquakes
Yes, this may be true. We don’t talk much about things like this because it’s so hard to predict what will happen in the future. There are lots of reasons to grow a garden, live simply and in general be prepared for uncertain times no matter what happens.
I get concerned when I see people pre-filling lots of bags. It’s VERY important to use slightly moist soil in the bags that will tamp down into a consistency very close to rammed earth. Rammed earth can last thousands of years. However, overly dry soil that doesn’t solidify properly with tamping creates walls of dirt that won’t be nearly as strong or durable as rammed earth. To properly bind soil particles together you need the moisture and solid tamping. Pre-filling bags and Leaving them sit around could dry out and not work correctly.