Homes for Haiti: Simple, low-cost, prefab houses/shelters for homeless Haitian post earthquake

March 6, 2010 - PRLog -- Homes for Haiti: Simple, low-cost, prefab houses/shelters for homeless Haitian post earthquake.

As the rainy season comes, post earthquake homeless Haitian families anxiously wait for temporary shelters and some for definite housing solutions. While the government, under the leadership of Minister Patrick Delatour, is still  articulating  a plan d’urbanization, the 500.000 affected Haitians are desperate for urgently needed housing relief.
At a news conference last week attended by the Haitian minister of tourism, some high profile backer including Gen. Wesley Clark, retired Miami Heat star Alonzo Mourning, InnoVida Holdings officials and DPZ principals, it was announced that at least $15 millions in investment capital were already raised to build a factory in Haiti that could produce 10,000 houses a year. Another important announcement that day was the donation by the company of 1,ooo “Haitian cabins” for homeless Haitian immediately, one of which was displayed as a prototype.  Nearly undestructible , capable of sustaining hurricane force 150 miles /hour winds and made of space-age waterproof, fire resistant composite fiber panels, the structures are designed by renowned architect and planner Andres Duany and have a higher defection capacity than concrete.

“Talking about the “Haitian Cabin” General Clark, who is on InnoVida board of directors, emphatically pronounced: “It can do more for housing in Haiti better and faster than any other technology out there”.
Each house can be assembled on-site by unskilled workers using no heavy equipment in a matter of hours and cost around $ 5,000. It could sleep 8 in a bunkhouse-like arrangement and integrates recommendations made by sociologist and anthropologist consultants. Variations to fit rural, suburban and urban environments as well as topographies allow for expansion and configurations to create whole villages or suburbs. In addition a larger scale model house such as one being built for Little Haiti in Miami was toured by Minister Delatour who said he liked what he saw but did not yet commit  his government officially. We must add that other companies, including HaitiHouse, have similar proposals and are in competition for NGO’s and the Haitian government’s business.

The Community Center for Family Enrichment (CCFE), a nonprofit organization, is in favor of a simple inexpensive safe solution that responds to local needs, customs and conditions. Based in Florida, CCFE and HaitiCabin.org  will strive to facilitate the implementation of a rapid and adequate response to the housing scarcity, in conjunction with the Haitian government and NGOs. We believe that there are many other areas where the Haitian families need our help but finding proper shelter is primordial and this is where we are going to focus our effort and energy first. The internet and other media efforts could help sustain the necessary attention to a humanitarian crisis that continues beyond the “news making” stage of the last couple of months and is likely to persist for years to come.

Follow us on Twitter and visit our blog, as the site is in development. Let us know of your comments, suggestions and we welcome your greatly needed donations to help us realize our commitment to disaffected Haitian families.
HaitiCabin.org

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