Post-Cyclone Rebuilding in Mozambique, 40 Days & 40 Nights, Phase 2 of the ‘Midnight Train to Beira’
Anteparo Architects (Mozambique) and Nhanhemba community are leading a post-cylcone building project. SUPPORT THE MISSION by donating and assuring that the first home-dome gets built. Hop on the Midnight Train To Nhanhemba!
A loving community of servant leaders, visionary architects, builders and citizens are working together to light the path for a sustainable and intelligent rebuilding project in rural Mozambique.
The village of Nhanhemba in Manica Province, Mozambique is a place without electricity, where thousands of homesteads and much of the arable soil was washed away when Cyclone Idai flooded the Buzi River.
They are the faithful peaceful warriors, the maturing youth of Africa who realize that to give of themselves and serve the regeneration of earth's land and people is the best way to live. These people of such beautifully diverse backgrounds and experiences are the drivers of the Midnight Train To Nhanhemba!
We are learning that that wholistic partnerships are the key to rebuilding after natural disasters. Anteparo and the Midnight Train To Nhanhemba team are forging bonds between citizens, government departments, and various levels of art, agriculture, architecture, construction, and social development.
In taking soil samples with the community, we integrate education and the exchange of ideas and we gain a more realistic perspective. Then we redesign the approach and the structure of the building and become sensitive to the voices and needs of our brothers and sisters.
Imagine living in a village on the banks of a river. The cyclone makes landfall, and then suddenly the river swells and the water pours in, collapsing your home, your food sources and your top soil. You and your neighbors are left with nothing but your stories…
WHO ARE WE
In March and April 2019, Cyclones Idai and Kenneth devastated large swaths of southern Africa, including Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. One of the hardest hit areas was that of Beira and surrounding villages in the Mozambican provinces of Sofala and Manica. In response, we launched a grassroots emergency aid mission called the Midnight Train that has since collectively delivered over 50 tonnes of food, clothing, and supplies to needy families in and around Beira.
WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO ACHIEVE
Helpful and flawed as all the various relief efforts were, the difficult reality of homelessness and broken infrastructure remains for countless towns, villages, and families. The real work of rebuilding has only just begun. That’s why we have committed help build homes and schools in villages where families are shockingly vulnerable. Through architecture, building, fundraising, networking, and a volunteer exchange programme between South Africa and Mozambique, we serve the reconstruction effort in cyclone-torn communities while growing solidarity and skills exchange across borders.
TEAM & PARTNERS
Our Mozambican partners and leaders are the architecture firm Anteparo. Anteparo, the project managers, have a vision for large-scale rebuilding of community residences through a high-standard, low-cost, ecologically intelligent and community-driven design and building process. With the guidance of the Manica province governor, Anteparo have located the village of Nhanhemba (Sussundenga district of Manica province) as the site of the first pilot building.
The core team is led by Beira-based architect Antonio Jamisse, founder of Anteparo, together with five South African architecture and construction volunteers who were sent through the Midnight Train and creative partners Roots Grown Deep. The core team is presently meeting with Nhanhemba community leaders and citizens, balancing local needs and resources with environmental realities and innovation. Originally, the pilot project was intended to be a school, but desperate local needs for homes have re-framed the project toward residences. They are finalizing the structure’s pilot design as a resilient, sandbag- and plaster-based dome structure, as seen below.
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION & BUDGET
The building of ONE dome residence as a pilot project requires at minimum $7,000 (R100 000). This includes construction materials, fuel, transport, and the daily living expenses of village-based builders and volunteers. All core team and workers involved are camping at the building site in harmony with Nhanhemba community. There is no electricity and modern amenities in this area. Local villagers live hand-to-mouth, and tillable soil has been severely eroded by the floods. It takes immense innovation, teamwork and efficiency to guide this project. Once completed, however, we will be positioned as a leading example and guiding light for an honest, socially responsible and ecologically intelligent programme for mass rebuilding of homes and schools throughout the cyclone-torn regions.
This project is a ‘proof of concept’ initiative that intends to reveal the effectiveness of ecologically sustainable building plans in post-disaster contexts. The power is in the potential for allowing communities themselves to drive the rebuilding process in a way that combines natural, inexpensive and ecologically intelligent methods with an upgraded architecture and the potential for off-grid sustainability.
We invite you to become a partner of this unique project that will set a high standard for quality, ecologically intelligent and community-driven post-disaster relief and rebuilding in southern Africa. Donate directly in South Africa to Hadithi ya Africa (NPO), or donate through our crowd-funding campaign.
ENDORSEMENTS & PARTNERSHIPS
Anteparo Architects and The Midnight Train to Nhanhemba post-cyclone rebuilding project are officially endorsed by:
Honourable Manuel Rodrigues Alberto, Governor of Manica Province, Mozambique
Provincial Directorate of Public Works, Housing & Water (Manica, Mozambique)
Community Architecture & Human Rights (CA+HR), a project of the President of the Gauteng Institute of Architects (GIFA) and the SAIA
The Musical Ecology of Roots Grown Deep
Universidade UNILURIO (Nampula, Moz)
Sitio Saramandala (Brasil)
Bio-Habitate (Brasil)
Eco-Art Builder Nicolas Macdonald
MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
CONTACT US: wecare@hadithiya.africa
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