Here is video report of the progress made at G Lambo Secondary in Karatu, Tanzania. We are proud of the results and the support that we had from all the donors and contributors. We will move forward patiently until we realize our goal of the new Girls Dormitory.
PRESENTATION TO KARATU DISTRICT COUNCIL FOR PROJECT OF COMPRESSED STABILIZED EARTH BLOCK (CSEB) MANUFACTURING FOR SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
Presentation on February 6, 2020, by Alberto Navarro to the Full District Council introducing the CSEB and Rammed Earth technologies for the construction of the Girls Dormitory and other school projects creating and opportunity for creation of local community jobs and obtain resources for community projects.
KEY POINTS
A local material Made on the site itself or in the nearby area. Thus, it will save transportation, fuel, time and money.
A job creation opportunity CSEB allows unskilled and unemployed people to learn a skill, get a job and rise in the social scale.
A bio-degradable material CSEB will come back to our Mother Earth… No other building material can do that.
Limiting deforestation Firewood is not needed to produce CSEB. This will save forests.
Management of resources Each quarry should be planned for various utilizations: water harvesting pond, wastewater treatment, reservoirs.
Energy efficiency and eco friendliness The pollution emission will also be 2.4 to 7.8 times less than fired bricks.
Cost efficiency Produced locally, with a natural resource and semi skilled labour, almost without transport
An adapted material Being produced locally it is easily adapted to various needs: technical, social, cultural habits.
A transferable technology It is a simple technology requiring semi skills, easy to get. Simple villagers will be able to learn how to do it in a few weeks.
Market opportunity According to the local context (materials, labour, equipment, etc.) the final price will be cheaper than fired or cement bricks.
Reducing imports Produced locally by semi skilled people, no need to import from far away expensive materials
Flexible production scale Equipment for CSEB is available from manual to motorized tools ranging from village to semi industry scale.
Social acceptance CSEB can adapt itself to various needs, from poor income groups to well off people or government needs. Its quality, regularity and style allow a wide range of final house products.
Musicians of The World Series
Chano Dominguez volunteered to give us a beautiful performance form his home in Barcelona. At that moment he was in confinement for the Covid19 , but thinking in the girls of G Lambo and how this dormitory will change their lives.
This is the first performance of a series that will follow from other musicians.
Enjoy Chano Dominguez playing “Soy Pan , soy Paz, soy mas” from Argentinian composer Piero.
You can DONATE HERE
G Lambo CSEB Operation Report 2020 ( +video)
School Kitchens
The first production of CSEB blocks produced in Gyekrum Lambo School are going to build two new kitchens in the Marera and G lambo-Gendaa villages near Karatu. The project is sponsored by donors of Karatu Education Fund.
Your help is needed to raise money in an effort to help build a simple and sustainably built this type of Kitchen structure with 2 Energy Efficient Stove Units at other Primary Schools. For many children at schools, lunch is often their main meal of the day. New Kitchens Units are greatly needed to be able to provide lunch to all of the children.
Your donations to Karatu Education Fund will go directly to this project.
Existing Kitchen in Shule School
Kitchen in Gyekrum Lambo School
NEW KITCHENS
G-LAMBO KITCHEN COMPLETED
This project was executed with CSEB blocks made in the same school by local young workers. The construction was directed by mason Abdulahi Saidi without external aid and with free interpretation of the plans made by Alberto Navarro.
Kitchen in Askofu almost finished…
Karatu Course in Catalan Vaults 2020
Due to the pandemic Covid-19 the course scheduled for May 22-29 has been posponed until further date.
The best specialist in vaulted structures in Spain will come to Karatu, Tanzania in May 22-27 to give a training course to local masons in Catalan vaults.
The architects Manuel Fortea and Julio Palomino and the master mason Salvador Gomis will give a practical course building two 4x4m elliptical vaults in the Gyekurum Lambo school. The building will serve as a temporary school kitchen. This construction is similar to the units to be repeated in the Girls Dormitory. It will use rammed stabilized earth walls of 40cm, and CSEB bricks for the vaults made in the same school.
The goal of the course is to train the community in building rammed earth walls and a selected team of the best local masons to reproduce and spread this old technique in their region. The process will also serve to evaluate more precisely the costs and timing of the works.
Follow Salvador Gomis in 
G Lambo Phase 1. CSEB Production started.
Last summer 2019, the community started collecting soil and sand for the production of CSEB (Compressed stabilized earth blocks) in the same school.
Multiple impressive strength test were done and we got excellent results with blocks up to 6.7 MPa (67Kg/cm2) which s a high quality block. Other mixes with less cement % were passing 3MPa which is the minimum requirement for safe construction.
