inua uwezo builders

80% of total population in rural africa live an deplorable mud houses that are prone to cold, natural calamities,nake  pest and rodents hide out and cant stand extreme weather conditions like winds an heavy rains. these leads to many non accounted deaths . despite all these risks, building these houses demands trees for posts and side walls with an average 2 bed room house requiring 2 mature trees and hundreds of young trees .

alternative quarry stones is expensive with these option leading to deep and dangerous excavations.

taking advantage of readily available subsoil in africa we developed a hydraulic stabilized soil brock making machine that is relatively affordable($2000) that makes 1400 blocks a day using 2 litres of diesel( 3 beedroom blocks in 3 days).

from our diverse team, we give end to end solution from house design, to actual construction.

more than 70% population in kenya are rural dwellers who live below the poverty line.with youths making the highest %, the demand for housing is increasing at an alarming rate. however with low economic capabilities, most youths turns to undecent but climate unsmart  housing.these houses are built of mud walls and necessitate felling down of trees for poles, roofing and side support.on average, 1 house would require an equivalent of 4 mature trees.these has caused shrinkage of forest and the challenge is increasing with increase in population. with changing climatic conditions in africa, we have seen increase in heavy rains  and extended dryspells which doesnt salvage these housing. in extended rainy seasons, apart from these population suffering from cold and dumpness related diseases, they are at life risks with most houses collapsing.extended dryspell attracts varieties of insects ,rodents and snakes which equally   endanger lives. the problem has scaled to a point the government of kenya  banned tree felling 2 years ago which have pushed construction cost too high with few able persons opting for artificial woods and plastics which extremely pollutant to the environment.

inua uwezo builders (our team) offer  end to end housing to rural locals which are decent,affordable and build in a climate smart way and withstand climate shocks.

we design and build these houses using locally available sustainable resources. To build, we develop architectural design based on the site and soil structure.using our machines and local labor, we  make onsite interlocking  stabilized soil bricks which are as strong as building rocks , these are used to make side walls with no wood requirement

our own developed machine is so effective as it produces 1400 blocks a day with just 2 litres of diesel. being a hydraulic system, its easily operated even by persons with disabilities and women , it cost around ($2000) to make and weigh around 180kg,

these make it easy to move, and effective.

at the end of building process we are working to convert the pit left from stabilized soil used for brick making to be a water harvesting and storage structure  giving a circular benefit to the locals.through these, we are able to built decent and affordable housing to locals that withstand advance climate solutions,reduce trees required in construction

More than one third of Kenyans (12 million – 9 million in rural and 3 million in urban areas) in both the urban and rural areas do not have access to decent and affordable housing.

We have started our operations in Nyandarua County which has a vast majority of rural dwellers and have a high percentage of mud-walled houses

Approximately 482,977 of the total population lives in the these  area as per the 2009 census. Our target is to reach out to at least 12,000 households

with the  normal construction parameters, a standard 3 bedroom house would cost $5000 , the cost will be lowered to around $4000 despite having more +ve impact in low tree demand,local labor and sustainable source of materials.in case the same quality permanent house was to be built using quarry stone $ 20000 would be needed which isnt affordable to most youths

by using locally available subsoils we prevent   deep quarry  excavation and resultant carbon emission that occur in transportation .

our overall house uses 60% less cement cutting down the require input of carbon credit,

we use timber only for roofing saving atleast 4 trees that could be used for poles and side walls .

through our company, we train 4 locals from each house build on how to use ssbs and the machine if bought by locals can easily be leased at $0.002 per block made which is profitable to machine owners and lowers cost to one hiring

we have already developed the machine, sold one which we still offer  design and trained labour to the buyers and have one within the team which we are currently using to make houses, so far we have completed 10 house, 14 livestock shelters and 50 latrines . during our test phase

we are end to end making sure clients enjoy all affordable and quality services. our engineer designed the house ,analysis site for suitability,trains atleast 5 local youths in ssbs brick making. after approval our team uses the locally available subsoil to make ssbs and together with trained local youths build the house to completion ensuring clients doesnt loose on mismatch of design ,material and actual structure.these lowers the cost of house construction by 50% when compared to same quality quarry stones. to make affordable to locals we allow a deposit of 33% ,the clients supports local youths to be trained and our company build on pay as you earn model to bring affordability to the poor on village for effectiveness we are in final stage of prototyping our designed machine that will make building easier and stronger as we discovered challenges in all locally available ssbs machines 

so far we have worked with 128 clients 

we aim to double these numbers each year.

reduced poverty: number of youths that we have trained to earn a living from building ssbs which is 8 per machine sold.earning per day from our sold machine which is $28 per day on lease.

number of trees saved based on number of houses we build 

5

we are a diverse team with 2civil engineer, 1 mechanical engineer,1 mansion and a strategy development officer  that ensure 3/4 of key services required are offered from within our team .

w

we are already diverse in term of composition based on age gender and experiences.

we strive to recruit team that are diverse based on experience and fit.

on our work we partner to serve all classes of people and have accommodative approach to serve  persons with disabilities and poor in the community

mentorship,

connection to other solvers 

evaluating credibility of my solution

in engineering, nothing is 100% technology ready and changes are done each day, i would wish to get people to challenge my work for betor improvement

financial  knowledge on how to model a social but profitable model when dealing with poor population will be a point of interest to me

habitant for humanity:

un habitat and cities

 constructing affordable housing in africa on their behalf

our ssbs machine are easily mobile, can be operated with minimal training.

with most refugees requiring decent housing and withing a short period, our technology can help in making these possible.

refugee camps in kenya are located in remote areas where construction materials are rare or expensive, we are a technology of choice that uses locally available subsoil in africa to make decent housing. infact with our machine, we can train and use the same refugees to make houses in their camp within few days .

the funding we get from these shall help us get milling machines to lower cost of machine production.

for every 10 machine sold, 1 will be donated to refugee outside camps to build their house and start a life

using locally available subsoil eliminate the need for opening mor quarries which have had adverse effect in ecosystem.to the same end our house save trees that could have being used by local population to build houses.

from these grant we shall be able to set up a machine production line and lower the cost of machine making

in africa , home belongs to women. infact many men spend life away from home (in cities) hence suffers less in case of poor housing.

a strict culture in some community also limit women jobs to plastering mud house which can be countered with one off decent housing solution.

today women making bricks in africa is hard simply due to shear muscle strength required. most bricks also require fire to cure.

with us , women can be able to personally make bricks with press of button.in the same end the can do upto 80% of construction with less training.

our end to end model favors women way of life as chamas( women selfhelp group) can get houses and pay as they save.

if we get women prize the money will be used to acquire milling machine to lower the cost of making machines.for every 10 machine sold, 1 will be donated back to women organisation in rural kenya to start business and make their own decent housing

affordable and decent housing is a urgent challenge affecting millions of young kenyans and africans .using locally available subsoil eliminate the need for opening more quarries which have had adverse effect in ecosystem.to the same end our house save trees that could have being used by local population to build houses.

from these grant we shall be able to set up a machine production line and lower the cost of machine making