Steelheart International Foundation represents a consortium of companies who share an interest in offering products or services that fill various needs in African countries. With regard to housing, two concepts appear to be optimum in terms of safety and affordability. Monol ithic dome homes called EcoShells like the one on the right are one solution. Because they are built largely with local concrete and labor, a 29 m3 unit like the one shown on the right, can be built for roughly US$5,000 depending on the fixtures and utilities. (See www.dftw.orgfor more information). Homes built with compressed earthen blocks like the house shown at the left are another good fit. This 52 m2 two bedroom, one bath model, is made with local soil. It includes a photovoltaic electrical system, solar water heater, rainwater collection and storage system, indoor toilet and shower, plus a family room and kitchen. The roof tiles are made from recycled waste, which may not be available everywhere, but the plant to make them available for purchase. These houses are very strong and energy efficient, and cost under US$15,000. Chris Whyte of Use-It i Durban, South Africa. (www.jwhyte@web.co.za) represents manufacturers of both concepts. He is offering franchise agreements which include training and the possibility of low cost, long term financing.
Steellheart International can provide water purification and sanitation facilities for each home, or for a complete village. There are numerous equipment suppliers in the US, some that make solar powered systems which can produce from 1 to 60 gallons a minute are shown below. Larger water purification facilities can be provided as well for a village. Relatively inexpensive water well drilling equipment is also available. The company in interested in teaming with government agencies to provide safe water and sanitation throughout Africa. Less sickness and downtime from diarrhea and other water born disease will increase productivity and eliminate childhood deaths. Eliminating the need for women and children to walk long distances to fetch water will also leave more time for productive activity. Providing safe water and sanitation is perhaps THE most important thing governments can do for their people. We can provide export financing for US products and services subject to a PPP with a government agency, subject to appropriate guarantees for repayment.
Solar power options exist for individual units, or Micro-Grid systems for a complete village. We are also affiliated with Cure4Hunger (C4H) Water and Power located in Newbury Park, Ca.. They now offer a power plant that was developed for the U.S. Navy for underground operations. The unit produces electricity using Gravitational Magnetic Energy and also produces 2,640 gallons of water nightly with an Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG). The electricity in turn can charge a bank of batteries. Each battery can be used in individual dwellings with enough power for 2 to 7 days, then swapped out for another battery. C4H will retain ownership of these units, but make them available for use around the world to governments or private parties than can cover $100,000 of the cost to put them in place. Multiple units can operate in tandem, and potentially provide up to 1 megawatt in power. Rather than just power batteries, they can provide electricity directly to surrounding buildings in a community. (www.C4Hpowerwater.com) Another carbon free power plant is the Joule Box (www.OsirisGlobalAssets.com). USE-IT can also convert waste to energy, and a multitude of usable products, while creating thousands of jobs, 2400 in Durban alone. Our goal is to franchise organizations in other countries to do the same.
We believe hydroponics are the answer to food security and elevated levels of income in Africa. The benefits of hydroponics ar e that one can produce roughly 75 times more food than in outdoor cultivation of the same size, in any location, and consume only 5 to 10% of the water. The need for pesticides and fertilizers is eliminated for the most part. The buildings can be placed anywhere, in any climate, operate year found and are not susceptible to adverse weather or soil conditions. There are many variations, including aquaponics which combine growing fish which produce nutrients for the plants. The plants in turn clean the water which is returned to the fish.
Small holder farmers can produce enough to feed their own family and have ample excess to sell and elevate themselves out of poverty. The picture on the left is a Vertigro system, small enough for an individual home, or in multiples, a large operation. We can also provide an organic fertilizer Supra Algae, which can significantly improve the quality and quantity of outdoor cultivation. (www.supraalgae.com).
We can make it easy to begin by arranging low cost financing for any or all of the above, subject to receiving either a sovereign guaranty or acceptable bank guarantees for repayment. An EcoVillage of 100 houses and community buildings can serve as a model that can be replicated elsewhere. Such a village will create 400 to 500 jobs (+/1) and lay the foundation for whole new industries in green technologies, to the betterment of the people and the planet. Contact us. Let's make it happen!