Earthship Biotecture will be teaming up with Long Way Home for a second build in Comalapa, Guatemala. The build will begin on January 21st and run through February 8th, 2013. During the course of the three weeks we will finish a 3U Simple Survival Model Earthship. The house will incorporate adapted versions of all Earthship systems including a bucket shower, 'outlaw' septic, black and grey water systems, a solar electric system and passive heating and cooling. The site is located just below the first Earthship we built for Maria and her family in December of 2011.

We are inviting 50 volunteers to work along side of the Earthship crew and Long Way Home crew. Workshop attendees will experience an affordable start to finish build incorporating all of the Earthship methods and materials.

Updates from the Field:

Day 1: Arrival
Day 2: Construction Begins
Day 4: Vaults / Septic
Day 5: Cement
Day 6: More Building

Giving Back in Guatemala

The house will be built for Romeo Apen, his wife and young child. A life-long Comalapa resident, Romeo has worked on the Long Way Home green builders crew since their school construction project started in 2009.

When he joined the team his work background was corn farming; he is now their build team foreman. Romeo has worked along side the Earthship crew on two builds in Guatemala and is enthusiastic about the environmental and economic benefits of alternative construction. He is an ambassador for sustainable housing in his community yet can't afford a sustainable home for himself. He and nine other Comalapan members of the Long Way Home team will be working with us to hone their green building skills so that they can continue to make a difference in a community where 67% of the population lives on less than $2USD/day.

We are very thankful to those who donated to the last Comalapa build. Thanks to you, Maria and her family have broken the circle of poverty. All her kids are in school now and their quality of life has completely changed for the better. As Maria’s daughter so eloquently put it, they are now the architects of their own future!

The cost for this three-week workshop is $1000. Included in this price is 20 nights at a local hotel as well as breakfast every morning at the hotel and lunch on the build site.

Volunteers will be expected to work 15 eight-hour days with weekends off. Transportation to and from Comalapa is not included, although ground transportation from Guatemala City to Comalapa can be arranged by us. 75% of the workshop cost will go directly to materials for Romeo's new home.

Please contact us with this form for more information and to register for this exciting and fulfilling event.

All form submissions are sent to phil@earthship.com (project leader).