Last year, I went to Sabana Grande, Nicaragua to take part in a 2 week Natural Building workshop led by Liz Johndrow of Earthen Endeavors. We lived and worked in a very small, rural village in northern Nicaragua. In the workshop we worked with the women of the village to teach them Natural Building skills that they could mimic once we were gone; building with materials that are available to them and affordable (and often times free). If you’d like to see the pictures from last year’s workshop, click here.
This year, I was able to travel back to Sabana Grande to see the building complete. When I left last year, the floors and plasters had not been finished. The women were able to complete the work, and the building is just BEAUTIFUL!!! (click on each image to view the enlarged version)
The classroom is ALL NATURAL, meaning it was built from clay soil, sand, straw, bamboo…using methods such as Adobe, Cob, Wattle-n-Daub, Earthen Plasters, Earthen Floors, & more!
The children LOVE their new building and the community uses it for many functions!!!
An All-Natural dual composting toilet was also completed since last year.
And now, the women are at it again. They are making over
1,000 Adobe Blocks for the next All-Natural classroom in Sabana Grande! They are due to break ground in just a couple of weeks. I was able to work with Liz a bit on the design, but unfortunately will not be there this year to help build. Liz Johndrow (
Earthen Endeavors), Karen George (
Build Like a Bird), and Eva Wimmer will be working with the Sabana Grande women; please consider supporting this project on
Indiegogo; only 18 days to go!!!