Otho Abwao School Project

Vital Stats

Thomas M

Cincinnati, OH

  • people helped500
  • People Doing It 35

The Problem

The school in the community of Otho Abwao, Kenya is falling into disrepair, and no longer functions as a safe or effective structure for the children to learn in. Our the University of Cincinnati chapter of Engineers Without Borders previously partnered with the community of Otho Abwao to provide a water distribution system that gave clean water to the community of over 500. As soon as they had a reliable and safe source of potable water, the community shifted their children’s education to their top priority. The problem is partially due to a simple lack of resources, because the community currently lacks the means to repair the current schoolhouse. However, a deeper problem lies with how the school was constructed in the first place. The current construction methods used in the school are not robust enough to assure long-term stability; building a new school with the same wood frame stabilized and patched by mud would create the need for another replacement a decade or less down the line.

Plan of Action

We are currently designing a new school structure that can provide the schoolchildren of Otho Abwao the safe place to learn that they deserve. Our focus is on creating low-cost, replicable, and appropriate building methods for the school that can be replicated in other structures. One central design concept is replacing the unstable mud walls with interlocking soil-stabilized bricks(ISSBs). These bricks are created using a press that compacts local soil into a form that can be built with. This method has several key advantages over alternative methods. First, the local soil is a virtually limitless and free resource, and the ISSBs require only a small amount of cement, so the cost per brick is lower than traditional fired bricks. Also, because these bricks don’t require firing, the scarce natural resource of wood will be used up less. Finally, because the only substantial capital cost is the initial purchase of the brick press, our hope is to revolutionize construction in the area by allowing the press to be used in subsequent building projects. We will pass ownership of the press onto the community who can decide fees for use and other regulations. By building better and more cost-effective houses, the people of Otho Abwao will be literally laying the foundation for a stronger future.
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Education
Homelessness and Poverty

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