" The Little Charity that Could"

Sisters of Charity of Ottawa - Lesotho: A Small Catholic charity in Africa is putting up a fight against Covid -19 and winning.

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Sisters of Charity of Ottawa (SCO), a Roman Catholic Charity working in Lesotho and South Africa, are putting up a remarkable fight against Covid-19 (Covid). We believe the actions they have taken has saved countless lives - and helped contain Covid-19 in the country. Their strategy serves as a road map for those trying to contain this pandemic.

Covid -19 in Africa: Lesotho has one of the lowest cases of Covid-19 in the world. SARID has been part of that fight from the beginning. As Covid cases started to make headlines in other parts of the world, and had not as yet surfaced in Lesotho, SCO pre-empted the devastating effect of Covid-19 by recommending safe practices that could keep the people out of harms way. They immediately promoted safe practices from mask wearing, social distancing, to washing hand with soap. They were adopted without hesitation given SCO's past charitable work and reputation. Sister Clementine Molefe, head of SCO for Lesotho and South Africa, along with Sr. Alice Mputsoe and Sr. Theresia Noko spearheaded the effort.

Masks for Poor and the Vulnerable: Subsequently SCO expanded that effort. All the sisters at SCO, administrators, and support staff as well as the poor and vulnerable - were given masks. Sisters went out to villages to distribute masks to the elderly, children and the vulnerable.

Preventive Strategies: It is believed that the Covid-19 virus first enters the body through the nasal passage and the throat, although these may not be the only entry points in the body. A study by University of Edinburg, Scotland UK, as reported by Sam Blanchard of Daily Mail on June 24, 2020, found that  salt water gargling (warm water) in particular, relieves symptoms of cold and congestion, and is thought to boost the body's natural virus-fighting mechanism. The afore mentioned recommendations are based on the findings and results of the so called Elvis study (Edinburgh and Loathian Viral Intervention Study) published in 2019. Inhaling steam at least once a day, targets the sinuses - and it it is believed that it may also kill viruses in the nasal passage as well as the throat. The above study strongly suggests that direct contact with salt has a toxic effect on the viruses, and may be damaging and killing the viruses. Also we recommend washing your face and hands several times a day with soap water. Overall it is thought that if the viral load is low, it gives the body more time to trigger the immune system - produce antibodies - kill the viruses. Killing of Covid -19 has yet to be confirmed. The recommended practices give us a fighting chance in absence of a vaccine.

Covid Information Dissemination: SARID has since expanded its efforts to go above and beyond providing face coverings. Information on safe practices to fight the pandemic is being widely distributed in local languages. Articles explaining safe practices were printed and distributed in paper as well as by email.

Hitting the Air Waves: Sister Theresia subsequently hit the air waves  to inform the people how to stay safe. She is now a regular on Covid issues in the local media.

Food Production: The next challenge has been food security. Increased unemployment, in both Lesotho and South Africa,   has left people poorer and vulnerable. Food is less affordable. SARID-SCO team are trying to pre-empt a food crisis, or famine, by providing money for seeds, fertilizers, irrigation pipes, and other tools for irrigation. Again SCO has come up with a brilliant idea. Partnership and Pooling Resources  . SCO talked with land owners to give their unused land for free or in exchange for food; vulnerable and poor volunteered to work in exchange for food when crops are harvested; and SCO and SARID promised to pay for seeds, fertilizers, water, irrigation pipes to the best of their ability.

Rising to the Challenge:  The ongoing effort is not without its challenge. SCO is resolute in overcoming them as they surface. One such problem arose when they wanted to plow the fields quickly before the rains came. SCO arranged to get a tractor - but did not want to spend the limited money on a tractor driver. Sr. Theresia had an answer - I will learn how to drive a tractor she said and plow the fields myself. Only 33 Hectares is that all, she said.

Hence by pooling their limited resources and armed with a can do attitude, Hope and Courage has replaced fear and desperation. Determination and confidence has supplanted helplessness and despondency.

On a more sober note the choices are grim - being pro-active in fighting the virus is our only hope. Your support means that we can count on each other in times of hardship and adversity - that humanity and empathy trumps all other differences.

These very positive initiatives launched by SARID requires help. With your help SARID can do more.

Note: Please share our website with your friends and those that can help. Thank you. If you would like to send money directly to Sisters of Charity of Ottawa - Lesotho, you can do as follows:

Standard Bank Lesotho, Kings Highway Building, Maseru, Lesotho Accont name: " Grey Nun of the Cross" Account No. 908000164381      Swift Code: SBICLSMXXXX

email: saridweb@gmail.com 

Specify "SARID-SCO Food Program ". If you send money through Bank of America they don't charge a transaction fee. Make sure you call it Charitable donation. You can also send using "Transferwise". Their rates are minimal.

The write-up below is In Sesotho ( Language spoken in Lesotho): 

Covid -19 Afrika: Lesotho le na le linyeoe tse tlase ho fetisisa tsa Covid-19 lefatšeng. SARID o bile lehlohonolo ho ba karolo ea ntoa eo ho tloha qalong. Ha linyeoe tsa Covid li qala ho ba lihlooho tsa litaba likarolong tse ling tsa lefats'e, 'me li ne li e-so ho hlahe Lesotho, SCO e ile ea hlakola tšenyo e bohloko ea Covid-19 ka ho khothaletsa lits'ebetso tse tloaelehileng tse tla boloka batho ba bolokehile.

Hanghang ba ile ba khothaletsa mekhoa e bolokehileng ho tloha ho apereng maske, ho its'etleha sechabeng, ho isa ho hlatsuoeng matsoho ka sesepa. Ba ile ba amoheloa ntle le tika-tiko ba filoe mosebetsi oa khale oa liphallelo oa SCO le botumo. Kgaitsedi Clementine Molefe, hlooho ya SCO ya Lesotho le Aforika Borwa, mmoho le Sr. Alice Mputsoe le Sr. Theresia Noko ba etelletse pele letsholo leo. SCO e ile ea nanabela SARID bakeng sa boeletsi. Hang-hang, kopo e ile ea khahlametsoa ka ho romelloa ka potlako ha lipaterone ho etsa limaske hammoho le chelete ea ho reka lesela le lisebelisoa le ho lefella meroko. Tlhahiso ea mask e ntse e tsoela pele mme hore bo-khaitseli ba etse mosebetsi joalo ka ha ba lakatsa hore menehelo ho SARID e tla amoheleha. Masken bakeng sa Mafutsana le ba Kotsing: Kamora moo SCO e atolositse boiteko boo. Bo-khaitseli bohle ba SCO, le motsamaisi le basebetsi ba ts'ehetso hammoho le ba futsanehileng le ba tlokotsing - ba fuoe limaske. Baralib'abo rona ba ile metseng ho ea fa batho ba baholo mask le bana le ba tlokotsing. Tlhahiso ea mask e ntse e tsoela pele. Maano a Thibelo: Likarolo tse peli tsa mantlha moo ho nahanoang hore Covid 19 e kena 'meleng ke karolo ea nko le' metso, leha tsena e ka se be tsona feela lintlha tsa ho kena 'meleng. Phuputso e entsoeng ke Univesithi ea Edinburg, Scotland UK, joalo ka ha e tlalehiloe ke Sam Blanchard oa Daily Mail ka la 24 Phuptjane 2020, e fumane hore metsi a letsoai a qhekellang (metsi a futhumetseng) ka ho khetheha ho nahanoa hore a matlafatsa mochini oa tlhaho oa ho loants'a vaerase. Polao ea Covid -19 e ntse e lokela ho netefatsoa. Ho hema mouoane bonyane hanngoe ka letsatsi, ho shebiloe ke lisosa - mme ho lumeloa hore e kanna ea bolaea livaerase tse kenang le 'metso. Boithuto bo kaholimo bo fana ka maikutlo a hore ho ama letsoai ka kotloloho ho na le phello e chefo ho livaerase, mme ho ka ba kotsi le ho bolaea likokoana-hloko. Haholo-holo ho tsejoa hore metsi a letsoai a fana ka phomolo ho batho ba tsofetseng, a nang le tšoaetso e kaholimo ea phefumoloho - e atisang ho lebisa ho khohlela le sefuba. Ka kakaretso ho nahanoa hore haeba bongata ba vaerase bo le tlase, bo fa 'mele nako e eketsehileng ea ho tsosa sesole sa' mele - ho hlahisa lithibela-mafu - le ho re fa monyetla o mongata oa ho loants'a livaerase. Mekhoa ena e 'meli e re fa monyetla oa ho loana ha ho na ente Mekhoa e boletsoeng pejana e amohetsoe ke bo-khaitseli ba bangata ba SCO - mme ba bolela hore ho bonahala ba na le pherekano e fokolang, ba hema habonolo, mme ka kakaretso ba ikutloa ba phetse hantle haholo. Har'a lingaka ha ho na motho ea kileng a ba le ts'oaetso bakeng sa Covid 19. Phatlalatso ea Tlhahisoleseling ea Covid: Haesale SARID e atolositse boiteko ba eona ba ho ea holimo le ho feta ho fana ka likoahelo tsa sefahleho. Tlhahisoleseling mabapi le mekhoa e bolokehileng ea ho loants'a seoa sena e ajoa haholo ka lipuo tsa lehae. Ba futsanehileng le ba tlokotsing ka bomalimabe ke bona ba anngoeng hampe mme SARID e ne e phatlalalitse mohato oa ts'ireletso ea lijo ka ho fana ka chelete bakeng sa peo, manyolo, lipeipi le lisebelisoa tsa nosetso. Lingoloa tse hlalosang mekhoa e bolokehileng li ile tsa hatisoa le ho ajoa ka pampiri hammoho le ka lengolo tsoibila. Ho otla Maqhubu a Moea: Morali'abo rona Theresia o ile a otla maqhubu a moea ho tsebisa batho hore na ba ka lula ba sireletsehile joang. Hona joale o lula a bua ka litaba tsa Covid mecheng ea litaba ea lehae. Tlhahiso ea Lijo: Phephetso e latelang e bile ts'ireletso ea lijo. Keketseho ea tlhokeho ea mesebetsi, Lesotho le Afrika Boroa, e siile batho ba futsanehile ebile ba le tlokotsing. Lijo ha li theko e tlase ebile tlala le tlala li kotsi. Re leka ho felisa bothata ba lijo kapa tlala tlala tseleng. Hape SCO e na le mohopolo o motle. Tšebelisano. SCO e buile le beng ba mobu ho fana ka masimo a bona a sa sebelisoeng mahala kapa bakeng sa lijo; ba tlokotsing le ba futsanehileng ba ithaopa ho sebetsa e le phapanyetsano ea lijo ha lijalo li kotuloa; mme SCO le SARID ba tshepisitse ho lefella peo, menontsha, metsi, dipeipi tsa nosetso ka hohle kamoo ba ka kgonang. Ho Itokisetsa Phephetso: Ho ile ha hlaha bothata bo bong. SCO e hlophisitse ho fumana terekere - empa e sa batle ho sebelisa chelete e lekanyelitsoeng ho mokhanni. Ho ne ho na le litšenyehelo tsa peterole tse lokelang ho nkuoa. Sr. Theresia o bile le karabo - ke tla ithuta ho khanna terekere eo a e boletseng le ho lema masimo ka bonna. Ke lihekthere tse 33 feela tse felletseng, o boletse joalo. Kahoo ka ho bokella lisebelisoa tsa bona tse fokolang mme ba khona ho itšoara hantle, Hope le Sebete li nkile tšabo le tsieleho sebakeng sa bona. Thabo le boits'epo li felisitse ho hloka thuso le ho nyahama. Leha ho le joalo ka tlhalohanyo e kholo likhetho li mpe - ekaba kaofela rea phela; kapa mohlomong ha ho le ea mong oa rona. Hape ts'ehetso ea hau e tla bolela hore re ka tšepana nakong ea mathata le litsietsi. Mehato ena e metle haholo e phatlalalitsoeng ke SARID e hloka thuso, mme ka menehelo SARID e ka fihlela litholoana tse tšoanang le linaheng tse ling. Tlhokomeliso: Ka kopo arolelana sebaka sa hau sa marang-rang le metsoalle ea hau le ba ka u thusang. Kea leboha. Haeba u ka rata ho romella chelete ka kotloloho ho Sisters of Charity of Ottawa - Lesotho, u ka etsa tse latelang: Standard Bank Lesotho, Kings Highway Building, Maseru, Lesotho Accont name: "Gray Nun of the Cross" Ak'haonte ea nomoro ea 908000164381 Swift Code: SBICLSMXXXX lengolo-tsoibila: saridweb@gmail.com Qaqisa Morero oa "SARID-SCO Food Program". Haeba u romella chelete ka Bank of America ha ba lefise tefo ea thekiso. Etsa bonnete ba hore o e bitsa monehelo oa Boithaopo. U ka romella hape u sebelisa "Transferwise". Litefiso tsa bona li nyane.

 

 

 

SARID's Building Project Wins Prestigious Contest -2018 MIT Climate Colab Global Contest

SARID's Lesotho Project Wins Global Contest for "Buildings" as well as "Adaptation". The contest was organized and sponsored by MIT's Climate Colab. Designed and built by SARID's Executive Director, Javed Sultan (JS) - a US based architect and a civil engineer. The proposed "Building", and thereby the proposed building technology, won in two out of seven contest categories. Close to 500 proposals competed in seven categories from all over the world. The building is a net-zero structure that remains warm in winter and cool in summer, without use of fossil fuels and/or mechanical heating or cooling. The building was built with locally available materials, using unskilled labor, and at a life cycle cost less than 50% of competing building types in masonry (concrete masonry blocks) or stone.

To read our winning 2018 "Buildings" proposal, click below

Click

 

- Read winning proposal for "Adaptation" on MIT Climate CoLab's website by clicking below,

Click Here

 

A Sisters of Charity of Ottawa (Lesotho) and SARID initiative

( All design, engineering, and construction management services were provided pro bono by SARID     )

Summary:

SARID has introduced a construction method/ process in Lesotho that provides for energy efficient homes, and utilizes renewable energy sources for heating and cooling. Most of Lesotho experiences freezing temperatures during winter, and hot weather in summer. Most people live in Lesotho, specially in rural areas, live in unheated homes. It was built for elderly residents of a catholic charity.

It is a zero-energy home, except for occasional cloudy days in winter (for about 10% of the year). Both electricty and heating are through solar photo voltaic (pv) and solar hot water heaters. Construction of the above structure was started in January of 2015 and completed in July 2015. It offers a low tech affordable solution for poorer countries that experience extremes of temperature.

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Structures Built in Lesotho and New Orleans in 2015:

Lesotho: This project serves as a proof of concept, and offers one strategy, for heating all kinds of small and large buildings with renewable energy sources. We were able to build this low carbon footprint home while keeping the first (construction) and life cycle cost (30 years) well below the cost associated with current building types in Lesotho. We have selectively used a concept called elastic skin, first developed for seismic structures by Javed Sultan (JS), to increase the resistance of buildings to seismic forces and internal stresses, and to reduce the use of cement and reinforcement - whereby you essentially bag the walls in a skin to mechanically (as opposed to using cementitious binders) hold the wall together. Initial results are very compelling with buildings showing no structural distress even after Richter 5.5+ earthquake. Our walls are hybrid structures - with multiple functions and capabilities. We intend to use this technique to resist large external forces such as flood waters, or earthquake, as well as to reduce the use of cement and steel reinforcement in non-seismic design. We believe we can duplicate these results in many regions of the world. All our structures have been designed in collaboration with US and foreign structural enginners.

New Orleans:

Javed Sultan, our chief architect and engineer, designed and built a similar affordable single story flood resistant structure for the city of New Orleans in 2015. In 2017, the home won American Concrete Institute's (Louisiana Chapter) merit award for low rise home design. It was built in a previously flood impacted economically distressed area. It is similarly well insulated (Equalling or exceeding building code requirements: R-24 for walls, R-30 for roof, and R-19 for Floor), utilizes similar sandwiched insulation, re-usable formwork, poured-in-place concrete wall technique (no mortar joints - prevents infiltration of air or flood waters). Can be mass produced or manual labor driven. It uses less cement than conventional masonry structures. The two bedroom home, elevated above the base flood elevation, has a "Green" flat garden roof in lieu of gabled roof, the current practice in New Orleans, which reflects heat to the sky and contributes to global warming. The building requires very little supplemental cooling (air-conditioning) in summer months. (Since this work was done for a third party (not a SARID project), pictures of the completed building will be posted at a future date on a third party website)

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Lesotho... continued

The home is "Green", has a low carbon footprint, employs sustainable building practices, and uses less cement than comparable masonry structures. Home is made of non-combustible material, excepting for the roof. It is well insulated - utilizing waste (recycled) expanded polystyrene (EPS) as insulation, and has thermal mass in walls and floors - which double as heat storage devices. It utilizes reusable forms for shuttering to make the poured in-place walls (reduces cost of unit home - the cost of shuttering is spread over hundred's of homes), and utilizes recycled waste grass for thatch roof. It can be built using manual labor so offers employment opportunities as well as capacity building. It is for the most part dependent on Lesotho's internal resources and economy.

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        Amputees, Shepherd's, and Animal Shelter

(The picture on the right shows shepherd amputees with the author)

There is a need for warmer shelters in Lesotho, both for humans and animals. In remote mountain areas, during winter, shepherds heard their cattle and sheep in freezing temperatures. At night if they are far from home, especially if they are in remote mountain areas, they have one room (public) shelters for them to sleep in. Very often home and/ or medical help is sometimes a day's walk.  These shelters have no electricity or heating, and quite often when shepherds sustain an injury, it leads to gangrene and amputation. There are a lot of amputees in Lesotho. Animals have no such shelter - they sleep in the open. A lot of animals are lost in the winter due to frost bite and cold. It is very possible for us to build self heated shelters for both humans and animals and provide electricity through solar or wind devices. It may be possible to provide gas for cooking through bio-digesters and/ or other renewable energy sources. Also egg production is usually down in winter due to unheated shelters for chicken and other farm animals. We could help in maintaining the egg production during winter by housing the chicken, and other animals in modest, but warm shelters for winter months. It will save a lot of animals, not interrupt poultry and egg production, and economically benefit the poor - and at the same time we will be recycling the waste, the EPS lunchboxes, and reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. See two projects, on the right side of the page, we are hoping to execute once funding is in place.   ---------->>>>

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Lesotho... continued

(Picture on the right: Elderly residents in front of their new home with Sr. Theresia)

The structure on the right, built for Sisters of Charity of Ottawa - Lesotho, is an example of a building type that combines low tech with high tech solutions - is not fossil fuel dependent for heating or cooling. The building is heated using a passive solar hot water system (SHW-P) - water is gravity fed and there are no heating elements or use of fossil fuels.The home utilizes a solar hot water (SHW) system for heating during winter, as well as solar photo-voltaic(PV) panel for electricity. Building's construction (first) cost is below the cost of construction of current building types in Lesotho. The life cycle cost, over a period of 30 years, is half the cost of current building types. It can be mass produced using precast panel wall system, or labor driven - as in our case, thereby providing employment for the large unemployed and unskilled population. The same process and methodology can be used to produce larger single and muti-story structures.

(Picture on the right/ below is from Lesotho during winter. Large parts of the country experience freezing temperatures and snow fall during winter)

The home has thermal mass for storage of heat in walls and floor during winter months, and an underfloor heat exchanger (hydronic) to store and release heat at required intervals during a 24 hour cycle. As far as this home is concerned, and we suspect for Lesotho for the foreseable future, the SHW-P is a lot less expensive and "Green" option for heating the building than other available options.

Introduction:

Lesotho is a poor country in Southern Africa - located on a high plateau, and experiences extremes of temperature. Winter temperatures in most parts of the country are below freezing, and summers are very hot. Homes are poorly built, are un-heated and un-insulated, and not suitable for the climate.

Most people are unable to afford parrafin or electricity to heat their homes. The elderly and the infant are at the greatest risk for premature death during the bitter winter months. The few well to do who can afford to pay for heating their homes usually pay on the average 20% to 25% of their monthly salary during the winter months.

Lesotho has limited options as far as building construction goes. It is mostly treeless - because of poor rainfall, geology, and deforestation in the past for firewood. Wood is imported, it is expensive, and is a fire hazard. Hence people in these parts generally resort to masonry or adobe construction. The former is a poor choice given that masonry structures are poorly insulated - or are very expensive to insulate, and the later is comparatively more difficult and expensive to maintain.

The prototype home in this picture, built for the elderly, is managed by Sisters of Charity of Ottawa - Lesotho. It was built by unskilled villagers and high school students, in 6 months or so. Similar buildings in future will take a lot less time - as the reusable forms for the structure are now fabricated and people have learned how to use them. The workers were trained by SARID's architects and engineers. It has passive heating and cooling features and it is warm in winter and cool in summer. It has thermal mass and it utilizes that property to store the sun's heat during winter. Insulated walls prevent the heat from escaping from the room. Most of the insulation is waste expanded polystyrene (EPS), recycled takeout boxes, that would have been burnt as trash. It also utilizes a solar geyser to heat the house, during severe sub-zero temperatures. The geysers also provides hot water for showers and laundry. The home houses four elderly people, and has an attached toilet and a kitchenette. Electricity is through Solar PV, thus making the building a zero energy structure for most of the year.

Besides the economic ramifications of not importing fossil fuels or electricity for heating, which money can be directed towards economic development, these homes are "GREEN", sustainable, do not contribute to global warming, while encouraging self reliance and creating employment opportunities for the unemployed population.

 

The Process

Given these issues in December 2014 SARID proposed to the Sisters of Charity Ottawa (SCO) to build a prototype structure which would be a non-wood, non-combustible (excepting for the roof), reinforced concrete structure, and which would be cheaper and comparatively more energy efficient. Walls above are only 30% concrete - the rest approximately 70% of the wall is made of waste and recycled material. The walls have an average insulation value of R-28 .

Further the building type relies on locally available building materials and taps into the large unemployed and unskilled population as a labor resource. It is anticipated that these practices would in the long term create employment opportunities in the construction sector and supporting industries. Lesotho would engage, mobilize and leverage its internal economy as opposed to relying on foreign aid and imported technology and value added goods and services.

 

The proposed building type for Lesotho represents a modest breakthrough not only for Lesotho but also for manysimilar poor and resource strapped countries in the world. The process may need to be tweaked to adapt to the country where structures are being built - but essentially it will lower the construction cost of buildings regardless of its geographical location. This has been the case in Haiti, Pakistan and Bangladesh and in New Orleans. The process can be adapted for seismic as well as high wind and tornado zones.

Teaching People to Build:

In order to teach the people how to build the above structures the SARID/ SCO team started by converting a small storage space into a vocational center. A small investment was made on mostly hand tools. The first batch of volunteers ended up building the above prototype over a 6 month period. Most of these volunteers had only secondary school education, were previously unemployed, and had little or no prior experience in construction. After training the volunteers had learnt carpentry skills, use of hand tools, and other building /construction skills. Seeing the enthusiasm of the volunteers SCO decided not only to provide free training but as an incentive also provided food and a stipend. The hope is that the skills learnt will improve their chances of employment in the construction industry and perhaps make them capable of building a home for themselves.

The proprietary technology, intellectual property of SARID, was offered at no charge to SCO.

The structure is very well insulated, with an average heat resistance value of R-28 in the walls, and has utilized some 4,000 recycled waste polystyrene (Styrofoam) lunch boxes as insulation.

Currently these EPS ( expanded polystyrene) lunch (takeout)boxes are burnt, considered trash, causing an irreversible ecological damage, ozone depletion and contribute adversely to global warming. The above picture is typical how the lunch boxes are burned and disposed off. The building has thatch roof, sprayed with a fire retardant, and has an average heat resistance value of R-30. The thatch is also occasionally treated as waste material and burnt as well.

SARID is looking into other waste to recycle and incorporate within future structures and has done so in other instances........

Please click here to READ More .........or

Please click here to see a video of the process and completed interiors ( This video is an mp4 file. It is user friendly - you may pause, stop and play the video as you please)

(More detailed write up follows)...

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