Construction of the house continues. We've begun mixing and applying the earth plaster to the straw bales. Between the rough and 2nd coats the nylon netting is pulled up and attached to the top plates. This is a very important aspect of the system as it adds a lot of tensile strength to the plaster and is a critical component for earthquake resistance.
I encourage everyone to view the video of the shake test on the Paksbab.org home page. The first of 2 tests duplicates the energy and acceleration of the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles. This 6.8 magnitude earthquake damaged 114,000 residential and commercial structures, took 72 lives and caused damage estimated at $25 Billion. The Paksbab structure, built from straw, shows no sign of collapsing and little damage as a result of this first test.
Then they upped the ante and tested the house at twice the energy of the Northridge earthquake. This time the house shakes violently and there is clear damage to the plaster. But when it was over, this remarkable little structure that could is still standing.
I have also been involved in a couple of "extra credit" projects. Surkhab attends the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology in Abbottabad as a Masters student in developmental studies. He arranged for me to speak at a seminar there last Monday (10/11) to a class of about 50 of his fellow students. I was to deliver a power point presentation on the Paksbab construction method, as well as any other issues important to developing nations that I might have a knowledge and interest in.
I had about 30 hours to prepare, and I used about half of them getting a presentation together, much of it from information Surkhab provided. 2/3rds of the talk was about the Paksbab construction method. Then I discussed several aspects of energy, both renewable and not, with a special slide titled, "Evil Energy Sources" in which I discussed the problems with nuclear energy. This was followed by a short discussion of a remarkable method of filtering water, even water contaminated by typhoid or cholera, using nothing more complicate than sand. Then a short discussion of biomass, ending with a description of how I make biodiesel at home.
I felt the talk went well and was well received. Afterwards a dozen of the professors invited Surkhab, Zamurad and I to the cafeteria for tea and cakes. The discussion continued to be lively and animated and I felt I made some more friends. The next day Surkhab confirmed that everyone enjoyed the talk and they even wanted me to address another class on environmental studies. Unfortunately, there is not enough time to do this before I leave.
Then on Tues. (10/12), Zamurad, Haddi and I drove to the village of Garhi Habbullah Khan, a few hours north. Lying along the Kunhar River, this town was affected by the floods but because it is up in the mountains, only the area near the river was damaged. We were met there by 2 locals, Aamir Ghiyyas and his partner, Sajjad. They are working with Engineers without Boarders (EWB) to build temporary, emergency shelters for some of those who lost their homes. They gave us a tour of the area and without them we would not have known how much damage was caused by the flooding. They brought us to a bluff above the river that reminded me of the northern California coast. While there were some damaged homes along the cliff area, it looked serene enough to the uneducated eye. But then Aamir told us that between the current cliff and the river there used to be more homes, and a road with shops on the other side. They are all gone now.
The homes these guys are trying to build are stick framed with a rock/mud mixture placed inside the framing. Corrugated metal is used for the roofing and sometimes for the walls, particularly when they could salvage it from the destroyed buildings.
The materials for these homes are being paid for by EWB. Aamir and Sajjad are doing their best to manage about 20 of these homes at 3 different locations but since the homes are essentially built by the owners, mistakes happen. Some of these Aamir and Sajjad were aware of, but we pointed out others that they had not noticed and ways of mitigating errors they had not considered. At the end of the day, they were grateful for our input.
I leave on Sat. and Surkhab said that all of the guys wanted to go with me to the boarder. I'm not certain how serious this offer was since it's an 8 hour trip. Each way! But the sentiment expressed by the guys choked me up for awhile. I will miss them, they've become dear friends. And it is clear the feeling is mutual. I often express the hope to them that I will be able to return to Pakistan, In Shalla.
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In the end it was decided that Zamurad and I will make the trip by ourselves. We will board a bus in Abbottabad Sat. night and arrive in Lahore sometime Sunday morning. Zamurad will then rent a car and take me to the boarder crossing at Wagah. From there I will make my way to my hotel, near the Golden Temple in Amritsar. I'll spend Sunday and Monday there, adjusting to my new life as a tourist. Then I'll fly to Udaipur on Tues. to stay at the home of someone I first met this spring in Santa Cruz just a few weeks after I learned I would be going to Pakistan and India (yes, it's an interesting world).
And thus will begin phase II of this remarkable journey.
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