Out of Dirt Comes Hope

Over the past few weeks I've been learning more about my upcoming EMI project and preparing myself for what lies ahead.  Until now I haven't given much detail about what we are actually going to be doing.  So, here it is.

I have been assigned to a project team of engineers and architects volunteering on Project 5550.  Our team includes an EMI staff project leader, architect, structural engineer, civil engineer, building contractor, architectural intern, and myself.  We will be serving a medical training center called the Jungle School of Medicine Kawthoolei, located in a conflict zone in the country of Burma.  Due to the hostile nature of this remote location we will be traveling to Thailand and staying in Mae Sariang, just east of the Burma border. 

 Over fifty years of civil war have left Burma one of the poorest countries in the world. Now the military dictatorship attacks its own people, killing or capturing them for forced labor.  Over one million people are now displaced inside Burma after fleeing from their homes into the jungle.  A lack of attention from global media has left the desperate situation relatively unnoticed.  An organization called the Free Burma Rangers is devoted to helping internally displaced people in Burma.  They provide medical, spiritual, and educational resources for these communities.

 Our project team will be working to design facilities for medical training in Burma, including a classroom and clinical laboratory.  In addition to the designs we will be training FBR members to build these facilities themselves using earthbag construction.  This is a relatively new technique for permanent structures based on an old method of building temporary structures, such as flood control with sand bags.  These massive walls give protection from severe weather, earthquakes, floods, even bullets.  Earthbags can be filled with local soils, require very few traditional building materials, and they're dirt cheap (okay, not funny).  It's an interesting method for sustainable construction, and is very applicable to

this remote location in the jungle.  We will be constructing a 

home which will benefit a village in Mae Sariang, but the main 

purpose is to demonstrate earthbag building techniques.

The trip will begin in late September and in-country design objectives will be accomplished in Mae Sariang.  After three weeks in Thailand, the remainder of the design work will be completed at the EMI office in Colorado Springs until the end of my term.  I cannot tell you how excited I am about this project!  I'm looking forward to seeing how God works through this.