"Do you want us to draw your layout?" Build Change drafter Yang Tianjun asks a pair of sisters-in-law who hurry to the road to speak to us.
One of the women is combing her hair as she walks; the other carries a basket on her back. The structure from wihich they've emerged is cobbled together from concrete blocks and corrugated asbestos sheets. An industrial looking tent has been erected next to the property.
The women, both married to men surnamed Du, are residents of Luorong, a village in Sichuan China, that was devastated by last year's earthquake in May. Nine months later, the people of Luorong are just beginning the process of rebuilding their houses.
That process got a kickstart when Chen Faquan, a village leader in Luorong, stopped by Build Change's office in early February. He'd heard about the technical assistance that Build Change had been providing in Minle, a nearby village, and he invited Build Change to work in Luorong as well.
Accepting the invitation, Build Change held a training in Luorong on Friday, February 20, 2009. Because the earthquake had devastated the town's buildings, Build Change held the training outdoors, to accomodate the large number of people who wanted to attend, and scheduled the training for the evening, so as not to conflict with work.
Despite the cold, forty-two people participated in the two-hour training led by Build Change construction trainer, Chen Ting. The training topics included the basics of good housing construction, as well as how to sign a good contract with a contractor. Villagers were also interviewed to determine if they wanted assistance from Build Change, and if so, of what variety.
"The training was very helpful," says Luorong resident Wang Wenfang, who worked with Build Change to develop a layout for the house she plans to build.
Following up on the training, Yang Tianjun returns to Luorong to speak with the villagers about their preferences for their new homes. The first villagers he meets are the pair of sisters-in-law, comb and basket in hand, who rush to the road to solicit Build Change's assistance in preparing layouts.
Yang Tianjun speaks to each woman in turn, going through a checklist that Build Chagne has developed called the Homeowner Preferences Survey. How many people will be living inside the house? Do you want your toilet inside the house or out back? What kind of materials do you prefer to use for the roof?
The Homeowner Preferences Survey makes concrete Build Change's foundational philosophy: that the process of rebuilding homes in the aftermath of an earthquake should be homeowner-driven. When homeowners articulate their preferences for the house - particularly in the context of one-on-one interview in which the focus is entirely on their needs and desires - they become partners in the design of the house, and they gain confidence that the house that will be built is the house that they want. At the same time, when the homeowners see that the features they value will be included, they become more receptive to the aspects of the design that make the house more earthquake-resistant.
Yang Tianjun marks down the women's answers to each question. Neighbors stop by to watch the intriguing sight of their town-members being surveyed, and to offer their opinions on the layouts Yang Tianjun has shown them. Both women have asked Build Change to prepare their layouts, so he'll use the information they gave him to draft layouts to their specifications.
Drafting the layouts further advances Build Change's vision of empowering homeowners so they can take control fo the process of rebuilding an earthquake-resistant home. A well laid-out house, one with symmetrical walls and sufficiently spaced doors and windows, is more resistant to earthquakes. The layout also allows Build Change to assist homeowners in estimating the cost of the house efficiently and accurately.
"In Indonesia, we found that homeowners were spending too much on the foundation or choosing a floor plan that was just larger than they could afford," says Build Change founder and CEO Elizabeth Hausler. "By the time they got to the roof, and the all-important connections between the top of the tie columns and the ring beam, they'd run out of money."
Build Change's layouts help homeowners ensure that they apportion thier money so as to be able to afford the earthquake-resistant design aspects. In addition, homeowenrs in possession of their layouts are in a better position to deal with contractors and ensure that the house they want gets built.
Finishing up the Homeowner Preferences Survey, Yang Tianjun tells the women that he'll return the next day to deliver their layouts. Smiling, the women depart.
Although neither of these women has yet broken ground on their new homes, they've already laid one kind of foundation for their earthquake-resistant houses. The education provided by the training, the one-on-one interaction during the Homeowner Preferences Survey, and the layout - that combines homewoner demands with earthquake resistant design - enhances the capacity of villagers like these two sisters-in-law to drive their rebuilding process. Thus enabled, these women are more likely to have a rebuild house that's safe, satisfying and sustainable, which is Build Change's ultimate goal.
"I like speaking with the villagers," says Yang Tianjun, as we continue on our way through the village. "I feel like the work I do makes them happy."
