Saturday, April 24, 2010

The Power of Imagination …


This may look like a strange building at first glance but it’s actually the end product of an amazing re-cycling idea.

The small village of Granados, in central Guatemala was badly in need of a school. The community could barely afford books, let alone have money to build a schoolhouse. It looked like an impossible situation until a young Peace Corps volunteer by the name of Laura Kutner put her mind and her imagination to work.

Building materials such as brick or wood were prohibitively expensive but, as she wandered the streets wondering how to approach this problem she became aware of the abundance of plastic waste she saw. Why not put this to use?

Laura presented her idea and the enthusiasm grew. Local “Hug It Forward” volunteers joined her Peace Corps group and, with the help of the children they gathered over 5,000 plastic bottles which they stuffed with other trash and these were used to construct the walls. The whole community was involved by the time the building was completed … total cost $3,000.



Isn’t this inspiring? I often feel like a pessimistic and world-weary blogger but this really lifts my spirits. Let’s hope that the idea catches on

6 Comments:

Blogger Anvilcloud said...

Some people have both imagination and drive. Then there's me. :(

1:38 PM  
Blogger KGMom said...

We saw this report on the national news the other night--love it.
I am always thrilled when someone takes a problem and turns it into a solution.

3:39 PM  
Blogger kenju said...

I'm with Anvil - I don't know enough about construction to come up with an idea like that, but I love the recycling aspect of it!!

8:58 PM  
Blogger Granny Annie said...

very clever indeed. hope to get another report after a long run.

6:59 AM  
Blogger Diana said...

How cleaver, and what good insulation!
Love Di ♥

6:03 AM  
Blogger Syd said...

That is awesome. It is amazing what we can do if we put our minds to it.

10:11 AM  

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