The Overall Objective
The idea of building houses out of clay derives from the wish to overcome the huge housing need in Namibia. Clay is available for free in many places of Namibia.
How it started
A farmer near Otavi experimented to build with clay. His positive results
gave impulse to the founding of the Namibian Clay House Project Development
Trust in 1991.
The first project tested soils throughout Namibia and then decided upon
Otjiwarongo as an appropriate place to carry out applied research. This
town was chosen because of the quality of the clay, its central position
and furthermore, because of the support of its Municipality.
The first houses were built only from clay. Sun dried clay bricks were
used to build the foundation, walls and the dome-roof. Model houses were
erected in Henties Bay and Ongwediva (1994). 1995/ 1996 two family houses
and one office were built in Orwetoveni/ Otjiwarongo.
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In October 1996 Wiebke Volkmann, co-founder of the trust and coordinator over the first 5 years, handed over the project’s management to the international NGO Grupo Sofonias. With Grupo Sofonias the CHP became part of the Eco South Network for a Sustainable Habitat (www.esocsur.org), which overall aim is to promote environmentally and socially sound and sustainable development.
The production of other eco-materials like Micro Concrete Roofing Tiles and lime was started. Experts from different countries Latin America’s worked for some time in Orwetoveni and gave their input. Thanks to different donors training courses and several building phases could be realized, like the building of a kindergarten and the construction of 20 clay houses in Orwetoveni.
SODI
- EU and BMZ Projects
Since January 2002 the project
came into a new phase. The German NGO SODI (www.sodi.de) and the European
Community made funds free for a 4 years project in Otjiwarongo, including
the building of 140 clay houses, the production of micro concrete roofing
tiles (the “cool tiles” are now available in Otjiwarongo, Rundu and Ongwediva)
and the promoting of eco-materials in Namibia.
In 2006 started SODI an further building project funded by the BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development). The 3 years project includes the building of clay houses for 100 poor families in Otjiwarongo. Furthermore the Clay-House-Project offers an building advice service to interested clay house builder in Otjiwarongo. The project will be finished in the year 2009.
Again
the European Community is funding now the promotion and building of 600
Otji-Toilets in Otjiwarongo and all over Nambia. The project started in
February 2008 and will be completed in 2011.
Starting with the year 2005 up to now UNDP/SGP
has funded several projects with the Clay-House-Project. At first an
building avisery service was financed, afterwards 45 Otji-Show-Toilets
and one workshops to force the massproduction of Otji-Toilets have been
funded by UNDP/SGD.
German Embassy
In 2007 the building of new facilities at the Clay-House Seminar Centre
was funded by the German Embassy.
Solidarity Groups
Over the last years together 8 Kindergarten have been financed by different
German Solidarity Groups in Otjwarongo.
Deswos
e.V.
In 2010 and
2011 two Kindergardens (Clay construction) were financed by the German
NGO DESWOS eV. in the informal settelment Ombili/Otjiwarongo.
