Sunday, September 23, 2012

Donated bamboo, and moving forward

Poco a poco we continue to move forward, thanks to the goodness of a number of individuals who continue to support our efforts!  The other day, we received a donated electric drill to help in the bamboo curing process, and we continue to work with a wonderful ecological architect who is supporting us in our efforts to move the process forward.
Delivery of bamboo- 1 of 3 shipments

Working during the day on setting up area to let the cured bamboo sit 

We still need your help!  We're talking with the mayor and requesting assistance from him as well as various foundations, individuals, and shop owners in Jama and Pedernales, but you can help as well, by organizing fundraising events, contacting me for information on helping donate materials for the construction, helping with the construction process, or just getting the word out.  Send me an email to find out more.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Updates on construction process

These past few weeks have included several exciting developments in the process of moving along the construction of the community center. Working with the governmental system here has been, by far, one of the more challenging things to moving the center along relatively efficiently. With the help of a local architect and engineer, we now have a “green” center design that will be “officially” signed and approved by an engineer so that we may meet with the mayor and more formally request assistance.

Additionally, we received a very generous donation of bamboo, which will help tremendously in the building costs and construction of the center, as the center will largely be built from local bamboo. The optimal cutting time for the bamboo was this past week, and the bamboo then needs to be cured to ensure it lasts over time. We will be working on this process over the coming week, after the bamboo is delivered to Camarones. This involves drilling small holes at each nodule in the bamboo and injecting water mixed with Borax and a few other things into the small holes. Additionally, the bamboo must be elevated from the ground, with the hole-side up, and protected from any rain.

I will post pictures of the processes as we have them. In the meantime, please feel free to send me any questions or comments you might have. And, as always, if you are interested in organizing a fundraising event, please contact me and I will work on helping with the details!