380 A Healthy Home
Teenagers produce improved building materials
In the neighborhood of Santo Antonio on the
outskirts of Brasilia, the capital of Brazil,
most houses are built in a few days using clay
bricks and concrete blocks that are bought
outside the community. There are few skilled
builders and no one has much money, so
residents build their houses with the
help of unskilled workers.
Because of this,
materials are often poorly
prepared, by adding too
much water to make
cement, or by leaving
out reinforcing steel.
Rosa Fernandez, an
architect, visited Santo Antonio
and saw how the lack of skills led to
poor planning and building. She set out to improve
the situation. With the help of government funding, she trained a group of
teenagers in Santo Antonio to make compressed earth blocks. These were
made from 2 parts sand to 1 part clay, with a small amount of cement, and
then were pressed in a simple hand-operated machine. After the teenagers
had learned to make the blocks, Rosa taught others in the community how to
build with them, and the teenagers began a business of making and selling
the blocks.
Now, many new houses are built with this safer, stronger building material.
The money people use to buy the blocks stays in the community and helps to
build a stronger future. And with all the practice and training the teenagers
received, Santo Antonio now has many skilled builders.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012