Maména

And a woman shall lead them...

Without Maména, we would not be developing the earth sack project in La Vibora. It´s that simple. In fact, among all the Haitian Dominican women in the countryside, she stands out for her striking abilities as a leader.

A new image of women:

As the men lift the heavy sacks, Maména is right there, doing a job that women usually hide from. She has seven children and can lift a 100 pound sack of dirt. When her husband goes off to work on a small farm in Maniél, she and her boys go to work on her plot of land that she weeds, digs up and plants with yautía. Maména speaks the best Spanish on the mountain and effortlessly translates into Creole. During a Sunday homily she will quickly capture the main idea and present it in Creole.

Her biggest gift:

But Maména´s principal gift is spirit. She radiates with a bright, can-do attitude that encourages other members of her community. People naturally tend to follow her example... especially the Haitian men -- who treat her with hard won respect.

The year of Saint Paul:

Soon the Church will celebrate a year devoted to Saint Paul. We will remember his extraordinary contribution to Christianity and marvel at the stamina he showed in pursuing the goal of establishing Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean basin. When I contemplate Maména animating her community and throwing herself into the hard work... she reminds me of Saint Paul and the quality of leadership that he offered each town and city along his path. May the Lord of new beginnings continue to bless the world with people who inspire others to serve!

Wall building in La Vibora

Before the sacks:

The chapel-school walls consisted of empty space and a few pieces of zinc roofing. The wooden support beams formed a fragile system unable to withstand winds above 20 mph. So on the day we started to move the sacks, the men first removed the zinc siding and then began to place the sacks.

Planned messiness:

One of our fundamental goals is to introduce a practice that the people can repeat on their own. But since it is a new practice, there is bound to be messiness in the way the men lay the sacks. In order to offset this drawback we use large sacks of between 100 and 125 pounds. Do we increase the messy factor by using larger sacks? Perhaps. We need more knowledge in order to do the calculations. At any rate, in the above pictures you can see people moving 342 heavy sacks in just one day. The major incentive for the demanding work was payment of 20 pesos for each sack filled and tied off. That comes out to $.60 cents for each sack.

Ease of operation:

Because we will continue to use the zinc roof, the community of La Vibora had no trouble catching on to the art of sack placement. They seem confident enough to continue filling more sacks and moving the project foreword. Our major limitation is a lack of sensitivity and familiarity with the inner workings of the Haitian culture. Are the people really fascinated by this construction method? Do they really believe it has value for their life situation? To what degree is the reception of this technique dependent upon factors we are not aware of? These are but a few of the questions that lead us to walk softly into this project.

La Vibora

The problem:

As oil prices rise, the Dominican Republic will devote less resources to the peripheral communities. That means deteriorating roads and agricultural production in the mountains above Paraíso. The Haitian Dominican residents already live with few resources. The future will offer them even less.

A partial solution:

In the above pictures you can observe the results of hard work, incentive and determination. The people in La Vibora filled 342 100 pound sacks with dirt in one day. These bags will be closed with cord and then carried to the community chapel/school and placed around the structure in order to form walls. A little piece of land now belongs to the Church and if the process moves foreword, the families will have the option of building homes with earth sacks and barbed wire (stretched between rows of sacks).

Why is this a good path for the people?

By using earth sacks in place of cement blocks, the community learns how to build within their means and in response to their environment. The heavy sacks can withstand the pressure of high winds much better than previous locally made shelters that utilize termite prone wooden poles and thatch materials. If the process catches on, the intelligent workers will adapt and perfect the method. Where there's a will ... there's a way! And the earth sacks depend upon the will of the local leaders. No matter what alternatives we offer, the deciding factor will be people -- humble people who advocate for change in the mountain villages. At this point we have offered them an example or a tool ... and time will tell if they accept it as valid for their life setting. May the Lord of all life-enhancing innovation be the source of new paths.