Community Center Earthship: Flower Prototype – Malawi

Posted on August 6, 2013 by RonMamita — 3 Comments

centers in Malawi, Africa; designed by Earthship Biotecture.

Through our technological advancements we have created a better world for many. Because of this we sometimes overlook the simple things that bless our every day lives:

Running water
Electricity
Shelter
An abundance of food

With these basic fundamentals unconditionally present in the Western world, we have eliminated the need to think about basic survival.

To create this freedom for others, we asked this question:

How can we engineer a single building to empower an entire community with limited resources?

Earthship Biotecture presents a unique solution to this question. Over 40 years of engineering experience has gone into creating a new design that is optimized for third world countries. The result is the Flower design: a self-reliant community center complete with a school, library, bank, administration offices, medical center, and food store.

What are Earthships?

Earthships are 100% off-the-grid structures that use modern engineering to work with the natural processes of the planet to provide automated generation of food, water and energy, all at zero cost to its inhabitants.

The Challenge

Until now, Earthship models have been primarily built for private use with resources that are out of reach for the communities that need them most. This changes today.

The new Earthship Flower design is a revolutionary solution for empowering entire communities in the search for self-reliance.

Our Goal

We are on a mission to bring this flower Earthship design to Malawi Africa this October 7th – 18th. Our goal is to fund the initial stages of the flower design and teach the people of Malawi to build their own flower Earthships; an integral step to self-reliance.

This prototype will be the first of its kind in the area and will become a sustainable development epicenter for 38 villages and over 5,000 rural people in the South East Mzimba district of Malawi.

This project is much larger than one building. By working with and teaching the people of Malawi to construct this design autonomously, our efforts will be the first ripple as Earthship technology spreads and empowers an ever growing number of people.

Why Kapita, Malawi?

This build in Kapita is an integral part of the Kapita region’s own vision for self-reliance. All 38 villages in the region have been working with the support of local partner Empower Malawi to plan, action and review their own development initiatives. Existing community-led initiatives are holistic and involve projects like community banking, solar lighting, organic agriculture, water filtration and eco-sanitation.

The region identified the need for a community centre and the need to improve existing design and building techniques to be self-reliant. Hence this project is not just the building of a valuable community resource, but the building of community capacity to achieve their dream for self-sufficiency.

Costs & Materials

100 X 100 pound bags of concrete
200 Meters of rebar
Lumber
2 x Solar cells
Charge Controller
Electrically wiring
Sediment filters
Simple water pump
OGWM Pipes and fitting
2 x 2000 Gallon cisterns
Tank fittings and pipe
Roofing materials
Windows
Travel expenses
Food and shelter for construction team

Be A Part of the Build

Want to do more than donate?

A pledge of $1,000 secures your spot to come with us to Malawi to help build the Flower design from October 7th – 18th. The team that joins us will work alongside Michael Reynolds, the Earthship Biotecture team, and the people of Malawi. Meals, lodging and transportation from the airport is included.

You Can: Help
You Can: Contribute
You Can: Empower

Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

Michael Reynolds is the inventor of Earthships and has been building them for over 40 years. Michael and the Earthship team have successfully completed similar missions in Sierra Leone, Haiti, Guatemala and Jamaica. They have the experience and exptertise necessary to carry this project out to fruition.

FAQ

Have a question? If the info above doesn’t help, you can ask the project creator directly.

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About RonMamita

Want Worldwide PEACE and Prosperity. We are the solution we have been searching for... Free People on Earth will solve our crisis and create an era of Creativity. Be Aware; Be Creative; Be Active; Be Free; and then Share it. LOVE & Wholeness AMOR y Paz