GlobalGiving.org: Build a school from recycled materials for Maya

Long Way Home Report

Ophelie Pluquet — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:59:22 GMT

Three weeks that I have joined the Long Way Home team, what a wonderful experience!

I am an intern from Belgium, I am going to stay in San Juan Comalapa for three months, and day after day I can see how the staff and the volunteers are motivated. In three weeks I saw the landscape changed, the building goes very fast... When I read previous reports, I can just recognized the progress made by the NGO.

I had seen how was the site before and I think that Long Way Home does a great job. Before my arrival, in early January, the NGO was pleased to open its first classroom that welcomes children of 4th and 5th grade. The building just goes on: the earthbag building, the art room, the retaining wall, the guard shack: all the site has great step forward.

I was pleasantly surprised by the methods of construction, the NGO has combined ecology and building in a surprising way. Tires, trash bottles and bags are very useful for the building's structure. Of course, it is a work of recycling, but it is also a way to preserve the environment. On Earth, we have a lot of waste, Long Way Home is able to use them effectively.

I think joined the LWH team is an rewarding adventure. And I am pleased to take part of this adventure. I want to thank all donors who, in some way, act in favor of this project. Thanks to you, 2011 was a wonderful year, and 2012 is ready to be also a great year.

Links:

90 people on site

School Construction Update

Sabrina Amon — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:59:37 GMT

It has been a great year for Long Way Home here at the Técnico Maya school construction site.

Our organization was named Small Charity of the Year by StayClassy, host of the largest philanthropic awards event in the United States.

We have also made significant strides on the construction site. Most notably, we have built a dry composting latrine out of bamboo and trash bottles, installed a rainwater harvesting system on our patio, and completed our West bodega.

Currently, we are concluding the finish work on the vocational classrooms and assembling a lower retaining wall for the primary school classrooms. The hard work of our Guatemalan construction crew and dedicated volunteers is apparent when you watch the 200 foot long man made ditch on the east side of our property being filled with 15 layers of tightly pounded tires.

As we continue to progress with the building project, the need for sufficient funds persists. By the end of the year, we plan to finish the lower retaining wall, begin construction of the upper retaining wall, and prepare the foundation for the primary school classrooms.

In the ensuing months, we will complete the upper retaining wall and build the primary classrooms.

Thank you for your continued support. Your generosity is helping change the lives of rural Guatemalan children, one bottle of trash at a time.

Links:

Check out our website

A Postcard from Long Way Home in Guatemala

Joan Ochi — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:20:09 GMT

In February, six GlobalGiving donors traveled to Guatemala for a week of exploration, cultural submersion, and welcomed visits to four GlobalGiving projects.

One of these projects was a school built by Long Way Home. The interesting detail about this visit was that the school was made out of recycled materials. Prior to our visit, it was hard to envision what a “school made from recycled materials” might look like – but our curiosity was quickly addressed once we arrived at the project “Build a school from recycled materials for Maya,” in the small town of San Juan Comalapa. We first toured the “tire garden,” where tires collected from throughout the area were stored. These tires are subsequently stacked, packed with earth, and covered with an adobe-like coating; they are the primary construction materials being used to build a school that will ultimately serve children and vocational students in this largely indigenous community. Plastic bottles stuffed with trash, and feedbags packed with dirt are also used in construction, and glass bottles have been incorporated into the design of the buildings, adding color and light. We met industrious young volunteers from the US and Europe who were doing everything from tending the garden to digging and building a massive retaining wall – built of, what else, tires!

Parque Chimiya, which adjoins the area where the school is being built, includes an organic garden, soccer fields, and other recreational facilities that bustle with social and educational activity – we met many local schoolchildren and their teachers who were enjoying the park during our visit.

This project was certainly one of the most creative and innovative uses of recycled materials our group had ever experienced – addressing not just the need for improved educational facilities, but the omnipresent problem of garbage and trash as well.

To check out more photos and news from Long Way Home visit their project page: www.globalgiving.org/2402

And just if you’re curious about the rest of the trip and where they were headed after Long Way Home:

“Almost every day in Guatemala brought us to projects which are doing important work for the people of Guatemala. This is a country devastated by decades of war, which suffers all of the consequences of crushing poverty, especially in the rural areas. Although I often felt disheartened to learn of the high rates of child malnutrition and low rates of education, projects like WINGS, which promotes family planning through education and improving women's health; the vocational school being built from recycled tires and plastic bottles by Long Way Home; and the community-run lending libraries facilitated by the Riecken Foundation, were terrifically uplifting. We repeatedly met enthusiastic people committed to doing good for the poor of Guatemala in culturally sensitive ways, which was the perfect antidote to the feeling of sadness or hopelessness that comes from hearing bleak statistics and seeing people living with so little.”

To check out the other visited projects go to:

Pueblo a Pueblo – www.globalgiving.org/3666 The Frances and Henry Riecken Foundation – www.globalgiving.org/3339 WINGS – www.globalgiving.org/2394

Today, a backhoe visits the Tecnico Maya school site

Elizabeth Rose — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:40:13 GMT

Dear Long Way Home donors,

The school site has made much progress since I last visited in November 2008.

Today, February 26, 2010 we made significant progress because we hired a backhoe to move dirt around.

From January 2009 until today ALL work on the Tecnico Maya School has been done by hand, without any machinery.

But today, that all changed when we hired a backhoe to speed up the building process. Please see how much dirt has been excavated. This will save us three months of digging.

The crew is very happy about this because they have grown in their skills beyond digging. When I visited the site today they told me that they are thrilled to be learning new green building techniques. They do not want to go back to digging. Onward with tire packing and more challenging work!!!

And our architect, Ericka Temple is happy also. She wrote in her blog today:

"Excavation, excavation, excavation! The first ever LWH bulldozer was hard at work Thursday moving dirt and cutting into the slope so that our building crew can focus on BUILDING A SCHOOL. It was a happy day. Hand excavation has an appropriate time and place, as does calling in machinery – we were thrilled to be able to choose the right tool for the job at hand. The area for the next vocational workshops is now cleared and ready for foundation, and a small platform at the upper level was cleared out to produce enough dirt to continue with the retaining wall. Eventually the entire upper terrace will be excavated at this same level to create the platform for the primary school classrooms."

Please visit our website at www.longwayhomeinc.org for more updates. Thank you to all, Elizabeth Rose, President, Board of Directors, Long Way Home

Postcard from Build a school from recycled materials for 50 Maya

Mark Skeith — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:16:19 GMT

Children that benefit from the education opportunities provided!

Before heading to Long Way Home’s project in the Mayan highlands of Guatemala this summer, I decided get a feel for the organization by reading their website. I ran into this mission statement:

“Long Way Home’s mission is to break the cycle of poverty among youth in developing communities by creating educational opportunities, cultivating civic interaction, and encouraging healthy lifestyles.”

At first glance, their strategy seemed to be a straightforward and common way of reducing poverty in any developing country. After volunteering with them for a month, however, this pitch has gradually transformed into a very coherent and pointed approach to achieving sustainability in a community unlike any other in the world. Like nudging a line of dominoes waiting to fall, Long Way Home has introduced the idea of a better future into a community so that it can use preexisting relationships to do so when Long Way Home leaves.

A 45 minute drive up into the highlands from the economic vein of the Inter-American Highway, this community, San Juan Comalapa, has felt the winds of globalization but has not yet found the sails needed to enjoy it. Without business connections to foreign companies like Castrol, Fed Ex, or even Gold’s Gym, store owners have painted their logos on their storefront walls instead. The DVD stand in the central market is surrounded by people who would love to purchase movies but do not have the extra dollar to do so. Especially with people in their thirties or older, it was very easy to see an almost giddy excitement that their children and grandchildren will never have to see what they saw during the recent civil war.

That optimism is coupled though with another haunting idea that, although they are climbing out of their past, they could still slip back into it. There are Coca-Cola trucks servicing Comalapa now, but there are also guards carrying loaded shotguns. Villagers can now enjoy the crackling of fireworks at festivals without having to worry about government approval, but sometimes the bangs I heard were actually those of a gun.

Matt entered this community in 2002 as a PeaceCorp volunteer, building relationships with community members before returning home. But unlike many others in PeaceCorp, he realized an opportunity for sustainable development and returned with colleagues and funds in 2004 to see it through. With a network of community leaders that were determined to pull their village out of its past, Matt realized that he could do more than just teach a child, build a road, or save a tree here. By “creating educational opportunities”, he has been providing parents a lasting way to protect their children. By “cultivating civic interaction”, he can pass appropriate technologies along to people looking for just that. And by “encouraging healthy lifestyles”, he is providing a roadmap to a longer, brighter future in an environment that used to seem inevitably tarnished. In each of these 3 approaches offered in Long Way Home’s mission statement, the community is receiving the tools needed to help themselves when he leaves.

During my month volunteering there, I noticed so many little moments when this change of attitude would come out. One day, I was enjoying a snack with a married couple in the back of a pickup truck on the way to the school construction site, and when the husband tried to throw away the wrapper, his wife said to him, “You shouldn’t do that” (The concept of littering is definitely new there!). Another day, I followed a group of students up to the soccer field listening to them complain about their little soccer balls that pop far too easily, and then like receiving Willy Wonka’s golden ticket, I saw the excitement in their faces when Matt held up ten gold medals that ten lucky kids would receive if they hustled. Coming from the U.S. where the idea of working at a soup kitchen sounds absurd on a beautiful NFL Sunday, it was amazing to see entire communities banding together to build latrines and retaining walls for the local elementary school because no one else would.

When I look back on a month there, all the wonderful conversations I had with Guatemalans, Long Way Home staff, and other volunteers pointed to one clear message about sustainable development. Community members are not the targets of development; they are its force driving.

And, this is why I really think it’s their slogan, not their mission statement, that does them the more justice:

“From the ground up”

A Postcard from Build a school from recycled materials for 50 Maya

Marc Maxson — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:53:08 GMT

Marc Maxson is GlobalGiving's Manager of Performance Analysis. This summer he traveled throughout Guatemala and visited a number of GlobalGiving projects. On May 29th he visited "Build a school from recycled materials for 50 Maya." When asked what he would tell his friends about this project, Marc said: "Incredible: You need to see this!"

Robert Dubois and I visited Long Way Home as part of our GlobalGiving staff listening tour in Guatemala. This is what we saw and heard:

Matt Paneitz led us through the community projects his organization had built outside Comalapa. A group of teens played soccer on the green field beside a healthy vegetable garden. We saw many buildings that used some sort of recycled materials and a few experimental structures, like a chicken coop, which appeared to be erected to test new mixtures of local stucco. As we walked, Matt explained his journey towards the point where they are today. This is a synopsis:

First they built a park. At night they would sit around the park and listen to the villagers.

Someone said, "I wish there was a garden."

So they built community gardens.

A girl said the soccer field was okay, but she wanted a basketball court.

So they built a basketball court.

Someone said, "I wish you would plant more trees, so we will have firewood."

So they planted a forest. They now sell the trees to pay a staff person who maintains the football field. The rest of the money goes to community projects.

Eventually it was time to build the school. But there was no money. So instead of starting by asking outsiders for money, Matt (the founder) got the idea of asking people to "pay" to enter the park by bringing them a plastic soda bottle stuffed with trash each time.

So people started bringing soda bottles stuffed with trash. The town started looking much cleaner.

Next they stacked the bottles to make walls and covered them in a mix of lime and dirt, like stucco. Now they have buildings, mostly made from free stuff.

But the bottles weren't coming in fast enough.

Someone said, "Everywhere I drive, there are discarded tires on the side of the road. Why don't we collect them all and use them?"

So they started cleaning up the highways and stacking hundreds of blown-out tires packed with dirt to make walls for the school. Next they will cover the tires with stucco to make walls. The only cost so far has been labor for 4 local workers, who live in the village and are so excited about the work no one even bothers to supervise them. But the work is on schedule nevertheless. GlobalGiving's donors pay their wages. Volunteers collect the tires.

Did you know cement factories produce 6 percent of global carbon emissions?

Long Way Home is building a school with a lot less cement and concrete.

Matt, the founder wants this school to create a new breed of environmental activist. I suggested he call these kids something new, like a recyclonista, or envirovisionary. May says the kids will learn how to think, problem solve, and find solutions for the future within the walls built of old tires, soda bottles, and other trash sources they have yet to tap. And even more, these walls may be quieter than the concrete walls that echo kid noise in a million classrooms around the world. Matt even thinks the tire-walls may be more earthquake-proof. Given the 7.1 earthquake nearby in Honduras last week, this may not only save money and resources, but also lives in the future.

Links:

Progress update on Tecnico Maya School

Elizabeth Rose — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:38:59 GMT

Aerial view of the foundation for three classrooms

As of June the progress continues on the Tecnico Maya School. Below you will see some pictures of the latrine, the retaining wall and the walls of three classrooms. Exciting new opportunities have come to Long Way Home. As a direct result of the news coverage recieved from the national newspaper, La Prinsa, a government agency of engineers came to view our use of recycled tires in building retaining walls. They have now contracted with LWH to hire our construction crew to build two badly needed retaining walls in two other Guatemalan locations. LWH is proud to offer the services of our crew who will be paid a little more than the wage we offer them for these jobs. This is very good for our local economy and is a sign of a mainstream acceptance of our building practices.

A load of tires for the retaining walls at the tecnico Maya Scho

The walls are going up!

Our House, In the Middle of Our Street & Why Did Matt Name It “Long Way Home”?

Matt Paneitz — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:29:08 GMT

A NOTE FROM GLOBALGIVING:

This is the second in a series of snapshots about project leader Matt Paneitz and his organization Long Way Home.

Thank you for your continued support of Matt and his tireless dedication to providing education beyond 8th grade to 50 Maya children in rural Guatemala. We ask you to contribute again today! Feel free to tell your friends about Matt and his incredible work!

Our House, In the Middle of Our Street

Long Way Home staff members Liz and Adam Howland custom wheels to keep them dry and safe in the Guatemala Highlands. After seven months of hard work, Liz, Adam, and Matt completed the construction of a round tire house built using discarded car tires, plastic bottles, and soil-filled burlap bags.

The house largely consists of 250 rubber tires packed full with the dirt from old adobe mud bricks. For under $2,000 Matt and his team were able to safely use roughly 64,000 pounds of garbage as building material in this prototype test structure, which is 13 feet in diameter. Although Liz and Adam are a “long way” from home, they live comfortably and affordably in their ecologically-friendly abode.

Why Did Matt Name It “Long Way Home”?

The name Long Way Home represents the daily journey of a rural Mayan farmer in Guatemala. Traditionally, the farmer leaves home at dawn to till the fields, his young children in tow to provide the additional labor more valuable to the family’s economic survival than their education. Quite often, a family of ten might bring home a daily income of $3, eating tortillas with salt as the nutritional mainstay. As the sun sets, children, parents, and grandparents are regularly seen carrying heavy loads of firewood tied to their backs as they return home from a long day of work in the fields. The firewood is quickly consumed preparing the food that will sustain the family as they repeat the routine the next day. Long Way Home strives to break the cycle of poverty by creating educational opportunities, cultivating civic interaction, and encouraging healthy lifestyles.

Interestingly, LWH was initially funded from firewood that was cut and sold as a fundraiser by volunteers in Oregon during 2004.

Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, and Build a School

Matt Paneitz — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 14:49:39 GMT

Retaining wall made out of old tires and plastic bottles

A NOTE FROM GLOBAL GIVING:

Please welcome Matt Paneitz. He is a new project leader here at GlobalGiving and over the past few weeks we have had the opportunity to get to know Matt and the great work he does for his organization Long Way Home.

Periodically over the next two months we will be sending you snapshots about Matt’s life and work. We encourage your feedback about this new form of progress update so that we can provide you with the most interesting and relevant information possible about the projects and causes you support.

We thank you for your contributions and ask you to consider donating again to Matt and Long Way Home. Feel free to tell your friends about this incredible project!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Recycle, Reduce, Reuse, and Build a School

Matt Paneitz and his colleagues at Long Way Home are currently working on the construction of a vocational school using recycled materials such as used car tires and trash-filled plastic soda bottles. The team broke ground in January, starting first with erecting a retaining wall out of used tires filled with dirt and eventually covered with a stucco exterior covering.

Matt has turned to the community to help him gather the “trash” used in construction. “Since starting our recycling program I have actually seen the small town that I live in become physically cleaner,” says Matt. “I have seen the children cleaning up trash in the streets rather than throwing more trash in the streets.”

With the funds raised through GlobalGiving, Matt has been able to hire a resident architect and eight local youth to serve as construction workers. The new school will consist of 14 buildings and will serve about 500 students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

This isn't Matt's first attempt at building with garbage. Please stay tuned for future updates to learn more about Matt's innovative construction background!

building new school and new volunteers join LWH

Elizabeth Rose — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:05:36 GMT

long view of retaining wall

Jauary 2009 ushered in the new year and a ground breaking for the Tecnico Maya School being built on two acres of land in the aldea of Paxan.

38 volunteers showed up for digging bringing shovels, azidones and wheel barrows.

Among this group we welcomed two groups of returning students from North American Universities. Saint Benedict's College and St. John's University from St. Cloud, Minnesota retuned as did the crew from the University of Illinois at Urbana.

Also joining our volunteer staff is LEED cerified architect Erick Temple from Newton, MA. Ericka will be filling an "Architect in Residence" position until May 2009.

A '06 graduate of the Syracuse University School of Architecture Ericka hopes to bring community architecture to Comalapa. Ericka thinks Guatemala is a perfect social setting for this inovative architectural approach where the neighborhood is asked to be involved in the design process. She will also work closely with construction manager Adam Howland on final design decisions. We look forward to Ericka's work.

Three Long Way Home staff made an epic journey through all of North America bringing almost a ton of donated firefighting equipment, recreational supplies and medical equipment. These donations were driven over 4,000 miles in a trip lasting almost two weeks and driven by Matthew Paneitz ED, and new volunteers Ben Smith and Aaron Colvin.

The equipment and the drivers were greeted with a hero's welcome of a parade and banquet in their honor when they finally arrived. The equipment has already seen its first fire and Comalapan firefighters are most appreciative of this great community contribution.

new retaining wall

retaining wall goes up

Being part of a larger vision

Elizabeth Rose — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:37:09 GMT

Water line for tenico Maya School

Quick update on the Tecnico Maya school building project... Comalapa is doing a water project to bring running water to the village of Paxan (pah-SHAHN), where the land is that we purchased to build the new school. Each family with land in Paxan was asked to dig a 25-meter section for the new water line. Everyone turned out yesterday morning to start on their 25 meters. Since we had 10 volunteers, we got ours done in a single day. It kind of felt like cheating, but we did do an extra couple of meters. These first two photos show the first 18 meters we dug. After finishing that section, we were led to the next section we had to dig, which happened to be right in front of the school land! Suddenly the water dig seemed really exciting. Cat

Gringas digging Paxan water line

It had to be pretty deep

Thank you to our wonderful and generous donors

Elizabeth Rose — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:19:32 GMT

A big thank you to all our generous and wonderful donors. We ended the Glogal Giving Challenge today in 4th place, securing a total donation of $7,930 from 121 donors. We are thrilled to receive such a tremendous show of support for our project and we promise to continue to work hard in order to demonstrate ourselves worthy of your continued faith and trust. We will be receiving individual emails of all who made donations in the coming weeks. At that time we will be able to thank each and every one of you with a personal letter of gratitude. Sincerely, Elizabeth Rose, project leader for Long Way Home.

Walking the land of the future site of the school

Elizabeth Rose — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 05:47:07 GMT

Land for the school

From the ground up.....The day before we departed from Comalapa we went to visit and walk the land. In order to get to the land we took a 15 minute walk through corn field paths outside the city of Comalapa. We met a farmer driving his set of cows home. We saw the sun's rays protruding from behind some clouds far to the west towards volcan Aqua which is near to Antigua. We also noticed that the land is rich and healthy and has a steep incline. This is good for our building purposes because as we level the land we will use what we excavate to pack the tires. The careage has five mature avocado trees on it and they were full of fruit. We took this as a fruitful sign because we love guacamole! here are some pictures toi give you a fair view of the land that awaits the vocational school.

Avocado trees

volunteers, staff and Board of Director's viewing the land.

Progress in Parque Chimya

Elizabeth Rose — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:11:49 GMT

Working at Parque Chimya

On Wednesday, the Parque Chimya staff and volunteers, consisting of intern Kari Ramsey from Oregon State University, volunteer Cali Olds from Wisconsin, Adam Howland, Matt Paneitz, Cat Brandon and myself, worked straight through on the documentation for the upcoming North American tour that Matt will be taking in November. Pictures were uploaded, excel files managed, PowerPoints were created and summaries constructed. This is an exciting time for LWH as we take the show on the road! Our objective for the tour is to visit four US cities in 30 days speaking at churches, synagogues, radio shows and in college student unions. We hope to garner interest and support for our school which we will begin to build in January. The neat thing about our school, that I keep repeating, is that it is being built economically in an ecologically conscientious fashion because it will use recycled materials like tires and trash-filled bottles. We want others to know that even though a country is poor it can still be innovative and it can still raise itself up from its trash!! I also visited a recycling center in Comalapa. Started by a Norwegian volunteer from Comalapa's sister city in Norway, it is the only recycling plant of its size in all of the Department of Chimaltenango. Residents can bring their trash, including common materials such as old boots and old buckets, and receive cash. A beautiful idea. Check out the pictures in this update to see what I am talking about. Thank you for all your contributions. We will work to continue to earn the respect that your donations have given us.

Common items for recycling

A long way to go for the environment

Arrival to view new building construction

Elizabeth Rose — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:31:08 GMT

Children and mother enjoying Parque Chimya

I arrived in Comalapa yesterday to view the completion of the tire house and begin work for our GlobalGiving Challenge. I was greeted at Parque Chimya by a mother and a group of 6 children happily enjoying the well cultivated gardens and the beautiful fields. They were eager to pose for a picture and I have included it here. The tire house is now occupied and has a functioning kitchen and running water. This is a successful prototype for future building. I climbed the steep hill and found a group of boys and young men having a competitive game of soccer on the grass soccer field on a sunny Sunday afternoon. All is well and thriving at Parque Chimya.

Tire house is beautiful.

Parque is well cultivated and presents a tranquil respite from h