California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth)
Cal-Earth is a non-profit organization with a mission to educate the public in self-help, low cost, environmentally friendly architecture built with local materials. The organization is dedicated to helping people in underprivileged and disaster ridden areas of the world.
Together with the villagers, ASP and Cal-Earth will tailor village designs to incorporate local craftsmanship to bridge the cultural gap between traditional grass houses and newly built earth houses. The earth houses consist primarily of local materials: sand, cement (one of the few industries in the Sudan), sandbags, and barbed wire. The end results are dwellings that are completely fireproof. The students at Cal-Earth have designed earth architecture schools for Darfur taking into consideration the environmental and cultural needs.
Nader Khalili, Cal-Earth’s founder, is the winner of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2004.Sudanese Partners
The American Sudanese Partnerships for Peace and Development aims to work together with Sudanese non governmental organizations that are already working on the ground. ASP will help train local workers and engage in cultural and learning exchanges. A variety of charity organizations and NGOs are providing services for women, counseling, orphan care and schooling, and emergency food provisions. Among some of the organizations that ASP has partnered with are the Women's Center for Peace and Development - that also partners with Ahfad University, the Women's Cooperative for Capacity Building, and the Darfur Center for Maternity Child Care. Their mission is to work for the welfare and development of the poor and to help alleviate the suffering of war victims. Their stated vision is to empower women and promote equality, justice and full participation in the development and rule of their land.
ASP is also working with the Rufaida Health Foundation to train psychologists and counselors to help rape victims as well as all the war traumatized. According to surveys of those involved in the conflict 40% experience anxiety and 6% depression from the war. ASP will work closely with them to provide special training courses for indigenous counselors through the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma.ASP has formed relationships with El Fashir University and Khartoum University. Khartoum University students have volunteered to help build a prototype house for the poor in Khartoum. ASP is forging relationships with other Sudanese NGOs such as SPCR - one of the longest working Sudanese NGOs - to cooperate with building training. The Marhama Charitable Organization provides shelter and technical education for orphans, and the Klaimendo Development Corporation is building prototype villages in Darfur. ASP is part of the international group of IGOs and NGOs that are working on sustainable housing: Practical Action, UNEP, UN Habitat, the Community Development Fund, and the Joint Assessment Mission for Darfur. ASP is working together with the FAO to share the earth technology for building reservoirs in Darfur. ASP has co-trained with Safe Harbor in the earth building technique and has discussed medical care training with them. ASP plans to continue training local Sudanese engineers, architects, and students to build with earth architecture.
La Sierra University (SIFE – Students in Free Enterprise)
La Sierra University is the home of SIFE, a three times national championship student organization that plans and operates businesses for villages in Ethiopia, Mexico and Central America. It has won the world championship for projects such as the Welfare-to-Work Child Care Capacity Building Business Course. The school has developed computer-learning programs and donated thousands of computers for villages in Ethiopia as well as starting animal husbandry businesses in Ethiopia and South America. The SIFE students have started a prototype village on their campus and plan to partner with the University of California Riverside to develop agriculture plans for the Darfur villages.
