DoYou Belize in...?

Up at 6 a.m. as usual and this morning MAC did make it to yoga and I to writing this. Yoga takes place from about 6.30 a.m. until about 7.15 a.m. and quite a few people do take part with Rania who is a yoga instructor. At the end of the session there is a short meditation and an anointing with orange oil. I am sure that this is very uplifting for the participants. At best it is beneficial and at worst harmless. This morning dawned sunny with few clouds so it is likely to be a rather warm day. I anticipate that the day will mostly be occupied by constructing the trough fr the ‘bond beam’ and then filling that with cement which will probably mean some fairly heavy bucket brigade work. Next days may well involve the roof construction which will be very heavy work at the top of the building. The lumber for the roof perlins is quite large gauge and some of it very heavy as I found out yesterday when one fell on my right foot!! So after the usual morning ’pow wow’ with some sort of...

This morning after a good night’s sleep we awoke with the alarm at 6 a.m. but MAC again did not manage to make it to yoga. Then at 7 a.m. we went across to breakfast. Here Marcin and Christine who is now the de facto project manager outlined the main tasks for the day. This consisted of making the wooden ‘trenches’ which would sit over the openings such as the windows and door and into which concrete would be poured to form the lintels.  When the wooden structures had been policed above the openings, rebar would be inserted and secured and then cement would be made and a bucket chain would deliver the cement to the upper tier of the building to be poured into the trenches and allowed to set overnight after which the wooden structure would be removed leaving the lintels exposed. Meanwhile others spread what seemed to be ‘chicken wire’ all around the building and this was to ‘bind’ the brickworks and help secure it in event of an earthquake. During all the work, some people...

We were up at 6 a.m. this morning but MAC decided to skip the early morning yoga session with the yoga lady who runs a daily period before breakfast. So we went over to the main building at 7 a.m, when the yoga session was just ending and breakfast was soon served. Marcin then gave a presentation about the project and what we would be expected to do today. He had high ambitions. A number of the participants offered advice and comments on the way in which Marcin  proposed to build the house. Various suggestion on the way in which the ‘mortar’ which ties the bricks together should be mixed and also the components of the bricks themselves. There were several people who are either in the construction industry or in the ‘business’ of ecological developments so the discussion was quite lively. Then, after gathering up all our things such as the cordless drill we had bought for the project our hard hats and gloves. The walk to the build site takes about 5 to 7 minutes. When we ...

We were up nearly all night preparing for our departure at 4 a.m. The cats were much disturbed by the packing and general movement at this time of night. Eventually we felt that we had as much as we could carry including much stuff that we would leave behind in Belize. I am sure that we would find that we have left something behind but there has to be an ending to the packing and that came as the Carmel driver called us to tell us he was here. So we got into the car and made very quick progress to La Guardia. We soon were checked in and made our way to the gate for our Southwest flight to Houston for onward to Belize. Southwest has a strange boarding system based on letters and numbers and after inquiring what our numbers meant, I found that we would be boarding after the baggage! So on payment of a fee, I moved us up to one of the first to board which meant that we had more overhead bin room and a better choice of seats as the seating is open and not assigned. The flight was unevent...

So, here we are on the eve of our departure for the 'build adventure'. As we have never done this before, or anything like it, we are fretting about what to take with us and what to leave behind. We certainly won't need winter clothing as the temperature seems to vary between the low 80's F (around 28 C) and the upper 70's F( 24/26 C) at night. Thus we need to contend with the heat, sun and we are told, multiple bugs!! Then there is also the ancillary stuff such as the hard hats, protective gear, the rechargeable cordless drill and some bits and pieces which we will bring as gifts for local people and children. We are checked in for the flight and the car has been ordered for 4 (yes four!!) a.m. tomorrow morning for our 6.15 a.m. departure from La Guardia first for Houston and then on to Belize City. Cameras and electronics are being charged and all the various wires and connectors being sorted out. The suitcases have been brought up from storage (to the chagrin ...

I am Scott Mader ( who is Open Source Ecology's person on-site ) and I look forward to meeting everyone in a few days.  I will be at Belize International Airport on Friday Feb 21st with a bus to bring everyone to the village of Copper Bank where we will be building the house. The last flight arrives at 2:30 pm and those participants should be cleared customs and out of the airport by 3 pm so that is when we are planning to start the drive to Copper Bank.  the trip should take a little less than two hours. The Belize International Airport is small so it should not be hard to find the other participants and I will be there with a sign the reads "Open Source Ecology" and I will reach there around 2 pm.  There is WiFi at the airport.     On Feb 27th the bus will leave Copper Bank early in the morning to make sure everyone gets on their flights The cooks have prepared a week of wonderful Belizean food and there will be...

This is a Vimeo of the story of the development of the machine that will make the bricks. Click to follow the link. The story of the Liberator We are really looking forward to seeing it and working with it.