HFH Bangladesh Completes First House Built With Compressed Interlocking Earth Blocks
Habitat Is Also Helping 280 Families In Water, Sanitation And Hygiene Project
DURGAPUR, 12tth November 2010: Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh has completed the first of three prototype houses in a pilot project to build homes with compressed interlocking earth blocks.
Hameda Khatun (right) is happy that her new home provides a safe and conducive environment for her children.
The CIEB technology provides a more environmentally-friendly and cost-effective method of house construction compared to the traditional bricks.
The blocks were made with a mixture of soil, sand, cement and water.
The machine-made blocks were produced at HFH Bangladesh’s resource center in Durgapur in the north. Durgapur has been chosen because of the area’s abundance of high quality soil and sand.
The pilot project is funded by the Australian government’s Direct Aid Program through the Australian High Commission in the capital Dhaka.
Habitat home partner Hameda Khatun and her family of four are currently living in the CIEB house. “We are very happy, I feel this house is lot more secure for my family. It will be very helpful for developing my children’s education and now I have ownership of a sustainable home,” said Hameda.
In addition to innovative construction technology, HFH Bangladesh is also reaching out to families in need via its water, sanitation and hygiene program.
In September 2010, HFH Bangladesh launched a WaSH project with support from HFH Australia.
The nine-month project will provide 280 families with sanitary latrines and rainwater harvesting systems as well as training sessions in good WaSH practices to communities.
This is the second WaSH project after a pilot project supported by HFH Great Britain and HFH Canada was successfully completed.
The pilot project was launched in March 2010 to provide 100 families with sanitary latrines together with rainwater harvesting systems.
Community leaders were also trained in appropriate construction technology while communities were provided with training in good WaSH practices.
HFH Bangladesh is currently carrying out a comprehensive baseline survey on recipient families and community members who are trained.
Habitat will also track the target groups to determine the impact of the project and derive further findings.
In addition, three research studies are being conducted to examine the waterborne diseases caused by the use of surface water and evaluate surface water purification systems as well as rainwater harvesting and filtering systems for households.