Dec. 30, 2008 — It was during my normal working hours (around 3 am) back in February or March when I decided to peruse the Architecture for Humanity site. My friend Angeline Cione had sent me an email about AfH, an international network of design professionals who volunteer their time to help communities in need.
I found an email address on the website and half asleep, began drafting my request.
“Dear Architecture for Humanity, My name is Elizabeth Davis and I am building a school in Rwanda….”
To my surprise, someone wrote me back.
The Architecture for Humanity DC Chapter President Joe Fuentes offered to meet me for coffee to discuss our project and the possibility of working with AfH.
Ten months later, Shurid Rahman, Vrunda Vaghela, Michelle Bove, and Joe Fuentes boarded a plane to Kigali, Rwanda.
The AfH team spent two weeks with us in Rwanda. We met with Rwandan architects and engineers, civil society leaders, government officials, and local community members. The majority of that time was spent out at the Project Akilah site: tromping through bushes to find the property lines, breaking into old locked buildings to measure dimensions, and sketching ideas for the master plan.
Michelle, Shurid, and Vrunda arrive at Kigali International Airport
AfH was founded by Cameron Sinclair. Watch him speak about open-source architecture at the TED Conference.
[...] planning and development phase. WDA employees recently completed a full land survey of the site. The Architecture for Humanity team was thrilled to get this information because it helps them a great deal in their design [...]