1. Lessons from Central America
1976 – 2013
revisiting post disaster project
in Guatemala
Kurt Rhyner

2. Central America is the subcontinent with most natural disasters

3. Earthquake in Guatemala
February 4, 1976
20,000 people killed
4 months after the earthquake, the project starts in a “forgotten”
part of the country, Baja Verapaz.
Task:
Permanent reconstruction with local materials
Teach technical improvements to local builders
Implement recommendations from the Peruvian earthquake 1970

4. Adobe was highly questioned by authorities and people were
afraid because of the damages suffered
The project had to re-establish confidence in Adobe
It had to be embedded in a wide social movement

5. Results achieved :
150 houses built in 18 months, in 23 villages
20 builders educated
Infrastructural and social improvements
It became the base for similar projects in other places

6. After 1978 the human rights situation worsened, the
social movement was threatened by government
repression and the project came to a standstill after a
parish priest was killed and another exiled, some
beneficiaries went into hiding.
It was after 1993 and more than 100,000 people killed
that Guatemala came to a situation of peace and
only a few years later people began to invest again in
their future

7. A 2001 study found all houses lived in and all but one in good
condition
In 2013 we found most houses in good conditions and lived in,
often by the second or third generation.
In the urban context it is now impractical to build with Adobe
In the rural area Adobe is still a widely used material

8. Results and lessons after 36 years
User satisfaction
All visited houses are lived in and in
good condition, maintenance is
satisfactory (some painting needed),
no structural problems have been
encountered.
About half the houses have been
passed on to the next or overnext
generation, several have been sold.
They represent good value in the
informal economy.

9. Results and lessons after 36 years
Beneficiary targeting
The task was to spread knowledge about safe
Adobe construction to many places; 23 different
villages participated, usually just one group of
three to five families
They were all poor families who had lost their
home and were prepared to work hard for a new
one
Several of the self-builders later were included in
the training program
Some families have made additions to their house

10. Results and lessons after 36 years
Replication
The project finished in the midst of an
internal conflict with gross human rights
violations, nobody dared to invest,
many villagers went into hiding.
Some twenty years later the country
came back to life.
In the rural areas Adobe still is a
common option for construction.
We have seen buildings where the
improved technologies were used,
like this rural school

11. Results and lessons after 36 years
Replication
In urban areas Adobe is not feasible any
more, because :
Building codes do not accept Adobe as
a load-bearing wall, they favour strongly
reinforced concrete structure and
masonry walls
No bank will grant credit for other types
of construction, even the traditional
burned clay bricks are marginalized
Land prices are soaring, multiple storey
constructions are becoming the rule

12. Results and lessons after 36 years
Technical performance
The technology improvements were based
on a UN-sponsored study after the 1970
Peruvian earthquake concentrating on :
●
●
●
●
●
●
Solid foundations (rocks and concrete)
Square adobes for perfect bond
Corners reinforced with buttress
Good masonry work (thin joints)
Tie beam on top of the wall
Stable roof with good overhang
Those recommendations have been
practised in several countries and have
withstood sizable earthquakes

13. Results and lessons after 36 years
Livelihoods
Livelihood creation as such was not a goal, but
the project concentrated on backing up existing
trades
The project spent 67% of its funds on local
production, 11% on national products (cement)
and only 22% on imports (mainly steel, nails
and fuel)
Clay tiles and timber were produced locally,
often in the same village
Several of the trained masons made a living out
of their newly acquired skills

14. Reflections
Small is beautiful
The project did not concentrate on efficiency or
reaching high numbers, it was to create an impact in
revitalizing local traditions......reassure people that they
could to do it themselves
In the rural areas Adobe is still used and the150 houses
of the direct intervention have stood well through
almost 4 decades and still represent value.
The project has influenced several projects with
hundreds of houses in Guatemala, El Salvador,
Dominican Republic and Honduras
But times are changing.....urban growth and regulations
are making self-sufficiency more difficult, mainly for the
poor....Self-help has to take other forms !

15. Reflections
Modern communication has changed project management,
37 years ago most decisions were made locally, which allowed
the project manager to listen to the “beneficiaries” and include
them.
We could not ask headquarters for their opinion, they were
simply informed of what was going on. This allowed for a
dynamism that nowadays is not permitted.
It was easier to be in tone with the population than nowadays.
We had to follow the philosophy of the project, but we took our
own decisions, for good and for bad, but they were local !

16. Reflections
Today's communication facilities allows the funding
organization to interfere in all decisions, local managers have
almost no budgetary authority
Has those control mechanisms improved projects or have they
simply created more bureaucracy concentrated in the donor
countries ?
Today, in our organization we give project directors the decision
power they need because it improves outcomes,
And because our budgets do not allow for the extra staff