GCC's first project

By: Jonathan Rhodes
Co-contributor: Green Communities Consulting

GCC spent a month in Hmawbi Myanmar. The living was rough but there was a charm and beauty to the village and the NEED-Myanmar Eco-Village Foundation(EVF) farm. We arrived at a farm that was completely underdeveloped. It was hard to imagine that in three months time EVF will have running water, an irrigation system, staff and student housing, a class room, and working electricity complete with internet. The vision for EVF is bold, and their director is nothing short of amazing. By the beginning of March, this empty four acres had 21 temporary residents working to build the foundations of EVF and in less than 90 days the first crop of students will arrive.

The land itself is situated in an ideal location. The western boarder of the land pushes up against a 20 foot deep creek that fills to the banks during rainy season -though that was hard to imagine in the 100 degree dry heat and with only a shallow 1 foot trickle of water to show. The surrounding lands were dry and dusty with nearly all vegetation dead or wilting but EVF was close enough to the creek that the river grasses and trees maintained a lush healthy green.

A dusty dirt road boarders the eastern edge of the property. The only vehicles that pass here are ox pulled carts, motorbikes, and the occasional supply truck to our farm to drop off bamboo and wood and other construction materials. There are several villages beyond our farm that follow along this road, but the access is so poor that villagers prefer to walk the road. However, this is expected to change in a few years with a promise of a paved road from here all the way to township market nearly 5 miles away.

GCC was brought into the country on a small grant to give NEED-Myanmar assistance. Our project involved a number of activities including helping with mud-brick making, building design, and land use planning. The first order of business when we arrived was to build a water tower for irrigation and toilets for the buildings. This project was where communication, especially with non-native English speakers, became incredibly important. NEED’s site manager and resource officer both had different ideas for the water tower and the final product was a combination of the two’s ideas with on the fly modification to the storage design.  

Once built, we attached a pump to the 70foot deep well to draw water into the storage containers. Then, gravity would do the rest. Irrigation and building water will be supplied by this tank, but drinking water will still be an issue (and a project for the future I’m sure).

Once water access was secured, we focused our attention on building temporary housing and toilets for the 17 NEED alumni and temporary laborers. We also built an additional water access point for bucket showers and cooking, and then begin laying the foundation for the first permanent dorm. We partitioned the property into sections. The northern most point of the property will eventually house small bamboo homes for guests and overnight tourists with a beautiful view of the creek, farmlands and distant mountains beyond. The location where the current temporary housing is located (just south of the future guest houses and the existing small garden) will eventually become the permanent staff housing area. Continuing south, the property will be sectioned off into farming land for various types of agricultural experiments and trainings followed by the education compound. This section hosts the women’s and men’s dormitories, EVF school and offices, and eventually guest offices for NGO’s.  The eastern and southern boarders that follow the dusty road will eventually have a wall. But, at the moment, banana trees line the edges.

We built temporary bathrooms out of bamboo poles, bamboo woven walls, and a thatched roof. The same system was used to build the temporary housing as well.

Finally, we begin the mud-brick project. Due to the dry conditions we had to fill the mud pits with water and allow it to soak into the dry clay for nearly 12 hours before we could begin the mud-brick process. We could add sand and rice husk once the water soaked in. The unanticipated delay meant we only made 1000 mud-brick in the first few days. We would need well over 30,000 by June, the time the new students arrived.   

The end of March arrived fairly quickly and at the moment, GCC can only be in the country for 28 days at a time. As the country changes, we hope this will too. We will continue our work with 6 NEED alumni projects. Three projects have already been chosen: Thuzar Win & San Myint's joint project, San Htay, and Chan Nu Nu. Help us choose the rest. Visit our current projects