What are we actually doing ?

I've been in Malawi since end of February 2018 to work on ecoLODGy's project in Bvumbwe.

We're building an "eco-lodge" and "sustainability training center" comprising a dormitory, several cottages (double-room ensuite and 2-bedrooms "family cottages"), a vegetarian restaurant which will be fed by the permaculture gardens around, a greenhouse, a reception and office building, an office building for a sister NGO working on renewable energy, staff facilities and a workshop, a large parking area, and the house of the managers.

We intend to build all that using as much as local materials as possible (raw mud and stone), and revamped local techniques. We acquired an Auram 3000 machine to make CSEB.

We would like this campus to be a demonstration center of what can be done in terms of ecological and affordable buildings, as well as agriculture with pesticides and other chemicals... To help the people living in the area taking hold of their living environment again.

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Week 26 - waiting for the roofs

So so soooo ! Everything is more and more beautiful here, as the buildings grow ! We can now have a good sense of space in them... and I can't wait for the roof structures to be put on ! The roofing structures have been being prepared for a while now...after we managed to optimize the system with the structural engineer. We had a good dialog, but then we faced a problem of delivery for some of the steel members which weren't available through the suppliers here. These are now coming, and hopefully the roofs can be installed from the end of next week - fingers crossed because we now have some rainy days and nights already... but nothing that can endanger the structures of the project so far. We tried to use as little wood as possible for the whole project, and especially for these roofs... Deforestation being a HUGE issue in Malawi, and me wanting to make a statement with marrying steel and tiles and thatch in these beautiful contemporary buildings ! Yes we

Week... 46 - Almost the roofs (this time for real) (I'm such an optimist)

I didn't realize I've waited for so long to post an update. It seems that the roofs have been under the works FOR EVER. We had wished to get them done by the end of November, before the rains would start. Well, something like 20 weeks later, now that the rainy season is ending, we still don't have the roof structures covered. Better doing it Necola's way : sit back and wait The contractor hasn't finished placing the designed (by structural engineers) structure, and then the tiles supplier, who is an engineer himself, wasn't happy with the structure at some places and asked the structural engineers to reinforce it. So now, we are in the final stages of putting that */&àçéè' structure up... My fingers are hurting, they've been crossed for too long now ;) But something is happening ! At the end of the day, it's going to be beautiful and inspiring :)

Starting Week 4

So last week saw another change of plans on site : Tuesday was the last day of the JCB on site, where it only worked for a couple of hours before having to be brought somewhere else, requested by the preparation of the presidential elections... We're getting ready to start making CSEB anyways, I had a closer look to the soil that is being prepared and sent several emails to ask for some advice. We're going to have to go though a test phase anyways, as we're not really sure of the soil we have... it's a good one no doubt, but is it really more sandy / more silty / more clayey ? This is unclear... This is not coffee And the collaboration with the structural engineer is a bit hard as he still didn't really look into what we want to do. Despite all of our discussions, he keeps having in mind that we're using the same type of material that people usually use here, which are hand pressed bricks with 20% cement as a stabilizer... Nope, not the same

Eco-Archi in Malawi

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