In late 2018, technical soil analysis work was conducted by the Tanzania Roads department, confirming that the soil in Nyamuhunga is, as believed, suitable for construction of CSEB (Compressed Stabilized Earth Block) homes.
Once again this year the project benefited from qualifying for Google’s Christmas Giving program. This year, the project was identified as one of the top 10 from among several hundred in the program. My friend at Google, Nicholas Vining, manned a booth in the Waterloo facility foyer for a few days and, between Google’s Waterloo and Bay area offices, we raised $8k CDN for the initiative.
Staff at the tech school, operated by the Kolping Society of Tanzania (the KST, a registered NGO which will implement the project), have been developing a ‘Tanzania version’ of a comparative cost study (conventional vs CSEB constructed homes) that was provided to us by an NGO in Nepal which has built over 50 structures using CSEB methodology. Final results are imminent and indications are that CSEB home costs, as in Nepal, will be significantly less than costs for conventional construction.
Although the KST has approved the project in principle, the next step will be preparing a formal proposal for their consideration. This will include some form of cost sharing between what donors have provided and the KST itself.
If all goes well, we hope to be purchasing CSEB manufacturing equipment and training folks in CSEB construction techniques later in 2019, with first construction in 2020.
