I Dare to Imagine...

There are so many people in this world still trying to fulfill their most basic needs.  People who scramble for food, water, and shelter. Back home, in Panama, living conditions for some are atrocious and even dangerous. And even though it is really bad in Panama, it is even worse in other places. In Nicaragua, people make tents with trash bags along the side of the street. 

Back home, in Panama, I volunteered for an organization that built houses for the poor. Although they had good intentions, I was able to see the flaws in their work. They got inexperienced people building houses made out of flimsy pieces of wood in a country where rain and bugs are in abundance. This house was going nowhere, it was just a band-aid for those volunteering to feel good. That house will get washed over in the next floor or just rot away in a couple of years.

This got me thinking... I dare to imagine a world where everyone has their most basic needs fulfilled starting with shelter.  I would like to develop a new way of building for countries like Panama and Nicaragua. So the locals don't rely on donated wood houses, nor do they spend all their savings on concrete block houses (what they mostly do right now) and spend all their money on 4 walls, just to run out of savings for a roof (this happens regularly in Panama). I would like to create a creative building system that uses recycled local materials but is also durable, safe, and economic. I feel that shelter is a big issue all over the world. The security of a home provides people with a place to rest and get ready to work, which in turn leads to money for food. Homelessness is a crucial issue that not only hurts those living in countries with dirt roads and clay houses but also cities in the most developed of countries.