University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Architecture Brigade Honduras May 2015

Start Date: May 20, 2015 12:00 AM
End Date: May 26, 2015 12:00 AM

The Architecture Program strives to improve in-home infrastructure and economic production in Global Brigades’ communities by designing and constructing small scale or in-home projects such as chicken coops, roofs, and additional rooms that will enhance community members’ health, quality-of-life and income. By improving their homes, community members can better prevent disease and maintain a positive mental state. Similarly, families choosing to build infrastructure for economic ventures that can generate more income, which could theoretically be used to independently enhance their living space. These important projects are both designed and built by student volunteers in collaboration with community members on 7 days trips to Honduras. Students volunteering on Architecture Brigades participate in either infrastructure design or constructions. On the initial Design Brigade, they consult with community members and draft blueprints for the in-home infrastructure or small-scale economic development projects sought by the family. On subsequent Build Brigades, students construct the projects alongside skilled Honduran masons and community members and ultimately create the in-home infrastructure needed to improve health, quality-of-life, and income. Student volunteers teach community members the construction techniques necessary to maintain the projects and ensure that they will continue to serve local families well into the future.