Microfinance is the provision of financial services to low-income clients or solidarity lending groups including consumers and the self-employed, who traditionally lack access to banking and related services.
In Nairobi’s largest slum, the Msingi Bora (Good Foundation), is a microfinance group that holds weekly meetings. With 23 members, each contributing 50 shillings (62 Canadian cents), they formed a pool from which loans can be made.
Loans from Msingi Bora range from 500 shillings ($6.6 CAD) upwards, enable local slum dwellers, many of whom have to pay for children’s education, to borrow money to pay for many necessities that cannot be provided without a steady income.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201004131004.html
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Small Piped Water Networks
Simple, quick, inexpensive and adaptable. Manila Water Company Inc. has introduced a schematic solution that provides treated water accessible 24 hours a day to slums.
In 2005, Manila Water Company Inc., the private utility responsible for northern Metro Manila began connecting 40,000 plus households from slums along a 9 kilometer stretch over the Manggahan Floodway.
Solution: Manila water finances the local homeowner association Kapit Bisig, comprised of 300 households that is responsible for pipe laying, metering and monthly billing and collection. A bulk meter is installed at one end of the street where residents are then given 1 to 3 years to pay for household connections that include covers pipes and a household meter.
Result: Within a year, an area can be piped, offering treated water 24 hours a day.
Cost: 10 Philippine pesos per cubic meter, plus 2 pesos going to the homeowners association, equivalent of just under 28 cents Canadian. Contrasting to the 50 Philippine pesos per cubic meter from the original privately owned deep well.
Downside: Collected money may be misused at times by individuals of the association. They also hold no legal right in preventing connected customers from illegally selling their water to others.
Foldable shelter
Foldable shelters
Foldable shelters are usually used during disaster relief process. They are light in weight, transportable, saving time and cost of construction, and can be folded into a relatively small pack(many can be folded flat). The greatest advantage of these foldable shelters is that they can be quickly and easily erected or refolded.
Foldable Shelter-a self-initiated project
Flat foldable shelter
Rainwater Collection System
Maryia Sakharevich, December 9th.
By using a 55 gallon barrel and $10 worth of additional parts, you can construct a sustainable rainwater collection system, providing you with free water. All you need is a barrel, garden hose valve, garden hose washer and a Male Hose Thread to Female Pipe Thread 3/4" adapter. Cut a 10" opening on the top of the barrel using a saw and drill 1" hole near the bottom of the barrel; the adapter and the washer go on the inside of the hole while the valve goes on the outside. A piece of window screen is attached to the top opening to filter out the debris and create a cover from mosquitoes. Lastly, redirect the downspout so rainwater goes directly into the barrel. You can also attach secondary barrels to double or triple the water collection. One 55 gallon barrel can fill up in about 10 minutes during heavy rain.
Instructables - Make, How To, and DIY. "Need Free Water? Build a Rain Barrel." http://www.instructables.com/id/Need-Free-Water%3f--Build-a-Rain-Barrel/ (4 December 2010).
By using a 55 gallon barrel and $10 worth of additional parts, you can construct a sustainable rainwater collection system, providing you with free water. All you need is a barrel, garden hose valve, garden hose washer and a Male Hose Thread to Female Pipe Thread 3/4" adapter. Cut a 10" opening on the top of the barrel using a saw and drill 1" hole near the bottom of the barrel; the adapter and the washer go on the inside of the hole while the valve goes on the outside. A piece of window screen is attached to the top opening to filter out the debris and create a cover from mosquitoes. Lastly, redirect the downspout so rainwater goes directly into the barrel. You can also attach secondary barrels to double or triple the water collection. One 55 gallon barrel can fill up in about 10 minutes during heavy rain.
Instructables - Make, How To, and DIY. "Need Free Water? Build a Rain Barrel." http://www.instructables.com/id/Need-Free-Water%3f--Build-a-Rain-Barrel/ (4 December 2010).
Jen's conclusion slides
* = new slide
Some of these slides may be separated into more slides b/c of all the info if it is too much for one. Should this be posted on the blog?
*Now
(as in our standpoint/solutions/how does knowledge of all this help us design buildings and cities)
REALLY DRAMATIC VIGNETTING
*The obvious conclusion we can draw from it is important to build low-income housing in order to help prevent slums, as slums do not make for a healthy/ideal society...slum-dwellers are essentially rule-breakers who ignore their governments by living wherever they want. This is not to say they enjoy it or anything; because they are unable to afford basic needs for survival and their government is not successfully addressing this, they are FORCED to become outlaws living in illegal dwellings in order to survive. Their needs are not satisfied by these makeshift homes, which are places of extremely high crime rate and disease, among other problems.
THIS INFO SPREAD OVER THESE 2 IMAGES...
(Works Progress Administration Posters 1936-43)
*TEXT, NO IMAGE
However, society (the people-->the government-->the urban planners and architects) must begin considering low-income housing a very high priority in order to prevent slums from forming instead of allowing them to form and then addressing the very costly and difficult task of fixing the problem after it is well-rooted.
*Is that all? (is that all we can take away from looking at slums?)
ON SCREENSHOT OF SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE VICTORY/JAI HO DANCE
*No.
ON SCREENSHOT OF JAMAL AND LATIKA LOOKING WORRIED
ON SAME SLIDE OR NEW SLIDE
The simple, economic strategies used by developing countries for survival are strategies that should not only be used when we are thinking about low-income housing or poverty-government-related-
IF THIS IS ON NEW SLIDE, WE COULD USE AN IMAGE OF A CITY..
Toronto
*The documentary The End of Suburbia discusses the impossibility of maintaining the huge amounts of energy our highly consumptive lifestyle demands. No combination of alternative energy sources could supply the amount of energy that oil was able to provide us before peak oil (the point at which the world's oil supply is its highest).
The End of Suburbia, 2004
*Some places are ahead of us in their concern for energy-efficient, space-efficient and economic housing because of the necessity of it (created by their gigantic population).
Yamashita House
*We must think about these things NOW. Although population in North America is not a problem yet, we are very accustomed to ignoring the problem of our huge energy consumption.
(As stated in The End of Suburbia,) as a society we MUST concern ourselves with the reality that our lifestyle, which is by far the most highly consumptive in the world, is unsustainable.
National Geographic, June 2004
*Like slum-dwellers are forced to do, we must think of practical, and therefore innovative, housing and lifestyle solutions. Like slum-dwellers have been successful in doing, we must find ways of using simple materials and simple strategies in order to survive.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Life Straw® - Hannah Vickery
As access to clean water is an increasingly prominent issue in many developing countries, new technology is being developed to provide access to water sanitization. The Life Straw® is a simple, individual water purification system which is equipped in a handheld straw. Each straw is able to filter 1000-1600L to a level which exceeds EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) requirements. This device does not contain any parts that need replacing, nor does it require electrical power or batteries. It removes a minimum of 99.9999% of waterborne bacteria and 99.9% of waterborne protozoan parasites. The Life Straw® is simple to use- one sips the water through the mouthpiece and occasionally blows through the same end to prevent flogging of the filter. While there are many advantages of the Life Straw®, it does not prove to be a sustainable solution to water sanitation issues throughout the world. It does however, serve as an excellent instrument in times of natural disaster, and can be very effectively distributed at times of disaster relief and crisis intervention. The cost of a single Life Straw® is $6.50 USD, and can be donated online through Rotary Clubs in the UK, Florida, and Spain.
http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw
The Hippo Roller
Cynthia Eng, Dec 8 2010
The Hippo Roller
This wheel-barrel like tool for collecting water holds water in the wheel! The Hippo Roller provides “a safe and efficient way of transporting water in the developing world”. Designed and produced in South Africa, The Hippo Roller has been around for 15 years. Each unit costs $100 dollars and holds approximately 22 gallons of water, which is much more than 5 gallons of water a bucket can hold.
There are flaws. Especially the high price point. However The the Hippo has been redesigned in 2008 in attempt to overcome its problems of inefficient, and high cost shipping and price. The new Hippo is a two-part form that “could be nested and staked, potentially even shipped with a water filter… and may also provided opportunities for distributed manufacturing in other parts of the world.”
Obviously the Hippo Roller would not be practical in transporting water up high-rise apartments like in Kowloon Walled city. But it’s great for flatter terrain. Although the large drum is said to be able to navigate over obstacles.
Source: “Hippo Roller Re-Design”. Project H Design. Accessed December 8, 2010. http://projecthdesign.org/projects/hipporoller.html
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