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[Haiti-8] Test Builds for Transitional Shelters
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With the rainy season coming on in May and hurricanes likely in August and September, families affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti need a secure place for shelter.
Habitat for Humanity's initial 440 transitional-shelters will be assembled in the town of Cabaret, about 35 km. northwest of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, implemented through a Habitat Resource Center. Habitat will build transitional shelters in other affected locations, prepare foundations for up to 7,000 transitional shelters being built by a partner NGO and provide construction technical assistance for other partners.
Transitional shelter is designed to bridge the gap between displacement and the restoration of permanent housing. It is based on the concept of semi-permanent shelter that can be upgraded, recycled, expanded or possibly relocated.
Transitional shelter is a good example of the saying "shelter is a process, not a product." The process of doing good post-disaster transitional shelter includes community participation, avoiding displacement or minimizing its affects, continuous monitoring and improvement and ensuring that disaster vulnerability is not rebuilt.
Haiti's transitional shelter design
Habitat for Humanity has two designs that it is refining and testing for use in Haiti. The designs include earthquake-resistant and hurricane-resistant features. One is a wood-frame shelter and the other is a steel-frame shelter; both have a corrugated galvanized iron roof. Mitigation-by-design features include metal cross-ties and hurricane strapping in roof elements. Materials are recyclable, in the case of wood, or upgradable to permanent shelter, for steel.
Five-gallon buckets filled with concrete will serve as footings for the shelter. Columns will be anchored to a steel plate embedded in the concrete. The steel version is easily disassembled if it needs to be relocated and the bucket-footings can be removed.
Built on an eight-foot module with gable-end and a single-pitch roof, the shelters are extendable by adding modules or multiples, either as an open porch or enclosed room. They can be wrapped with tarps, covered with plywood or other materials.
Habitat's transitional shelter designs, like most being planned for use in Haiti, have a covered area of approximately 18 sq. m. This accommodates the average Haitian family of five in compliance with the globally-accepted Sphere standard that indicates 3.5 sq. m. of covered area per person.
◆Back Number
2010.03.19 8,000 Shelter Kits Arriving in Haiti !
2010.02.17 Habitat Core Houses
2010.02.10 Multi-phase Strategy of Habitat's Response in Haiti
2010.02.05 Habitat Starts Distributing Emergency Shelter Kits
2010.01.26 Establishing Habitat Resource Centers
2010.01.21 Habitat's Response to Haiti Quake Relief
2010.01.14 Habitat Japan to Raise Funds for Haiti Quake Reliefs
