This is an amazing organization that I want to share with you all in hopes that you can help support what they do. You can see more about them on their website at www.paksbab.org, but to give you a general idea, they are a nonprofit organization that was created in response to the Kashmir earthquake of 2005. Much of Northern Pakistan was devastated by the earthquake and, just as we are seeing today in Haiti, Chile, and Turkey, appropriate and quality housing is the difference between life and death. To give you an idea of how important safe housing is, I recently heard that roughly 1 in 8 people in Haiti knew someone who had died as a result of the earthquake. That means that each living person in Haiti not only knows someone who died, but that someone in their family died. Counter that with the death toll in Chile where the housing is much better and more prepared for earthquakes and you’ll see that only .01 in 1 people know someone who died. That’s a shocking difference and it’s ALL because of the housing.

Please check out the video below to learn more about this amazing organization and how you can help stop needless deaths resulting from earthquakes.
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I recently wrote to someone who is trying to find an inexpensive way to build with bales. The intention is to wrap existing houses with bales in the cheapest way possible. There are no codes that need to be met on the reservation in question and a few dollars saved on each house could mean that one more home gets retrofitted each year. As it stands now, at least one person dies from the cold every year on this reservation. It’s time to stop that from happening.

Most of the work I do is on higher end homes and relates to teaching people the techniques I find applicable to most people. That said, I have outlined some ideas of how I think they could cut costs while still keeping the safety and integrity of the buildings. Please add your thoughts to mine in hopes that we can together find ways to help save lives and improve the quality of living for the people of this reservation, and hopefully beyond.
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I just got a message from a man in Virginia who’s looking to connect with like minded folks to work on a straw bale project together. Check out his message below.
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I was contacted today by a man named Cliff who is looking to volunteer on a straw bale construction site in Sweden. Anybody interested? If so, please respond to this blog and I will put you in touch with the volunteer. Thanks.

I am interested in helping create straw bale construction in South Africa and a gentleman has recently contacted me with that inspiration. I am using this blog as an invitation to start a conversation about how to make this dream a reality. Any input is appreciated. I have suggested an introductory workshop. What are your thoughts?

Below is a request for help from Ben Barneveld, the project developer for the Whole Earth Consortium, whose mission is to enrich the world through sustainable development and education.
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If you need some help, here is a woman looking to help you. If you want to connect, please respond to this blog post and I will make sure you get connected.

Andrew
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Hi. I’m looking to get into straw bale building, and am a bit lost. I had set up a work trade this summer but unfortunately that had been postponed. So I would like to try, if possible to set up another or possibly an internship. Do you know of any one needing an extra pair of hands? I am very portable, love meeting new people and most importantly a very dedicated worker.

I am a very hands on person and completed a month long cob workshop in Baja Mexico, through Cob works, this spring where I learned, built and understood earthen floors, roofing, foundation, natural plastering and more. Now I would like to immerse myself in straw bale. So here is my cry for help, I need some experience. Or if there is any wisdom or knowledge you could pass my way, or names of people who might be able to help please let me know.

many thanks

Mandi