Earthbag Emergency Shelter Education and Training - College Park , Maryland, March 6-7, 2010

Project Summary

by Architect, Mr. Thomas Marable

To: University of Maryland and Howard University Students Traveling to Haiti

From: Thomas Marable, RA, President, Build AG, PLLC

Date: Thursday, March 11, 2010

Re: Initial mission to assist with the training and subsequent construction of

emergency shelters in Haiti

On behalf of Build AG, PLLC. and Phoenix Contractors, Inc., we would like to express our appreciation for the opportunity provided to us by Mercy Outreach Ministry, Intl., Inc. (MOM) to assist with the current and ongoing training of University of Maryland (UMD) and Howard University (HU) students for a trip to help in Haiti.

To summarize, to date, UMD and HU students in junction with other private and non-profit organizations, can identify some collective accomplishments leading up to this trip. We have:

Organized at a grassroots level to conceive, develop and execute a meaningful way to assist residents in Haiti with emergency shelter construction for the upcoming rainy season.

Identified and performed preliminary research on the use of Earthbag construction technology to assist with training of the Haitian populace. Specifically, for the use as emergency shelters.

Developed a specific outline of how, where and to whom the training activities in Haiti will benefit.

Made preliminary arrangements with some of our Haitian partners located in Haiti to facilitate cross-training in Earthbag technology.

Executed an approach to coordinate with the appropriate Haitian authorities in order to obtain the prerequisite documentation to construct prototype structures at specific locations.

Performed a two-day training and analysis session that served as an initial introduction to Earthbag technology for the group traveling to Haiti.

Constructed a mock-up Earthbag study model that is being used to perform advanced design and engineering studies for ongoing and long-term training in this and other sustainable technologies.

The collaboration of our group is designed to provide immediate emergency shelter assistance with technology that will enable the Haitian people to convert temporary structures into use as disaster resistance, energy and environmentally sustainable long-term structures.

To that end, our delegation will attempt to gather and meet with local Haitian students/residents to discuss and demonstrate some Earthbag construction concepts. This information will be used to develop a comprehensive design, planning and engineering approach of how to fully construct Earthbag temporary emergency shelters into use as permanent-use structures.

To reiterate our support for the short and long-term training to the universities and other private and non-profit organizations, we are sending representatives from our Haiti New Communities and Restoration Program (HANCORP) team. Our role will be to:

Meet and greet local Haitian leaders to develop an organized training resource base.

Discuss and demonstrate some basic concepts of the production process and wall construction of the Earthbag technology.

Conduct assessments of site and land conditions required to receive the temporary shelters.

Determine and facilitate acquisition of the required authorization to build shelters there in Haiti.

Lay the groundwork for short and long-term grassroots training/cross training, design and engineering to develop disaster resistance, energy and environmentally sustainable buildings.