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LAOS HOME BUILDING VILLAGE PROJECT for February March 2008 Laos a Sustainable Village and Farm Project
Pakxe located on South West Laos. One-hundred and sixty hectares of land on The Bolaven plateau in the southern Laos has been purchased by a Lao expatriate named Sam Say. His vision is to empower the Lao people by giving them the knowledge, skills, and technologies to prosper. With district government permission, Sam is establishing a shaded organic 165 ha coffee plantation and training facility with his land. The plantation will grow and manufacture high end Arabica beans for specialty markets. Located, 40 kilometers east of the town of Pakxe, in the highlands with elevations between 1000m and 1300m, the area abounds in fertile soil, lots of rain, and has a relatively fresh climate. During the first two years that the families work at the farm, they will be paid, be given meals and accommodation, receive medical attention and have their children go to school. As an incentive to start a small farm of their own, Sam Say will match the money the families save and with a Governments agreement he will find nearby property for the families to start their own small farms and Sam will guarantee to buy their coffee beans.
First families learning sustainable farming practices. This plantation will be run as a development farm. Farmers and their families will spend a two-year term on the plantation, living together in community. While on the plantation, they will be trained in integrated farming. This includes the growing of legumes and keeping of animals for fertilizer, food, and biodiversity – a practice presently absent in Laos but a simple alternative to the unsustainable single-crop techniques which are now commonly practiced. The coffee beans will be roasted and packaged in Laos, thus provided new jobs in that country, and then sold directly to North America church congregations who will commit to buy one years coffee supply, shipped directly to their homes for $100. Sam Say has alreadt started this marketing process by buying selected coffee beans from 35 adjacent villages with the roasting and packaging initially taking place in the US while the storage, roasting and packaging plant is being built in Laos.
Bridge to neighboring villages - BWB to provide design and construction management for a new bridge in 2009. Builders Without Borders Planning and house design contribution. Builders Without Borders has surveyed the site, assisted in preparing a plan for the village and the farm sires and assisted in the design of wood frame homes clustered for the farm families. The goal of the Canadian Sam Say goal is to invite 100 families to spend 2 years on the site learning sustainable coffee production and farming practices. The workers would be paid, have their accommodation and meals provided, and their children receive an education. At the end of this period, Sam Say would match the money saved by these families and help them settle on nearby land, build their own 400 Sq. ft homes and establish a small farm. Sam Say will buy their coffee beans and sell the Boulevan Brand coffer direct to the North American households. Opportunity to teach and help build local housing There will be opportunities for Canadians from the building industry to travel to Laos, in 2008 and 2009, for periods of two weeks to two months to supervise house construction and to teach construction to the Laos families. Please contact Builders Without Borders for more information. The following pictures cover the housing construction in 2008.
Typical poor farm worker family accomodation.
New wood frame housing using Canadian framing systems.
Please Contact. Those experienced in wood frame house construction and can spend 3 to 4 weeks in February and March of 2008 and are interested in teaching the construction of homes for the village community should contact: Neil Griggs Builders Without Borders Canada Email: ngriggs@builderswithoutborders.com Web: www.builderswithoutborders.com
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