Guest post, submitted by patient, Jinhua

“Being sick throughout my whole life makes me appreciate the time I have in this world, and I want to use as much of my energy, knowledge, and creativity to help those in need.

Researching the Building Site

This summer, I went to Panama with a group of fellow architecture students from the University of Southern California, and I learned something about myself . . . that I really want to do something for the greater good of humanity.

I got the opportunity to find this out through our student-organized architecture club – Global Architecture Brigades.

Global Architecture Brigades asked our club to help design a facility for a small rural farming community in Gatun, Panama that was experiencing crop shortages due to severe winds.
 

Our Experience

This summer, I went with 8 other students to live in the village – to see the site and see how they lived.

Living at the village was an experience like no other. The village is located at a a very rural area in the mountains three hours aways from a major city, and 5 hours away from Panama City.

Working with the Team in Panama

Living there was nothing like my life here in the USA.  Living there was a challenge that toughened me, humbled me, and brought its own intrinsic reward – it gave me the opportunity to know the people and the children who will grow up with our design project.

What We are Designing

In recent years, the village experienced crazy wind issues and much of their crops were destroyed.  In addition, the village does not own enough land to develop a good storage facility for their crops and they have no way of conducting research to farm sustainably.

Our job is to fix that by coming up with a design.

• Wind Walls
  First, we are going to design wind walls, built, initially of rocks, on the mountain, approximately 5 feet tall, to stop the wind from directly hitting the farm. Behind the rock walls, we’ll plant fruit trees so that they become the wind block and the walls can be taken down (as rock walls aren’t permanent).
• Land Purchase
  Our partner organization, Global Brigades, is working with a local organization to purchase the land the farm is worked on right now, because the village cannot afford the land themselves. As the farmers make their gains back from their land, they will be able to repay the local organization and eventually own their own farming land (without interest).
• Farming Facility
  We will be designing a farming facility to store the food from the harvest and help the village become sustainable. Currently the building we are planning includes a bedroom, kitchen, meeting room, and a silo, including a solar drying space, a tool room, and a latrine.
• What They Are Growing
  The community grows coffee, corn, yuca, and plantains.
   

Group Photo - Jinhua is wearing the red sweater in the front row

More Than My Resume

I am definitely attached to the farm in this village and the people there, and am so excited about this project.

The people in the village have pure hearts and showed that they are willing to do their very best to help us get this building done. They will ultimately provide the labor for the facility that we design for them. 

Right now, we are still in the research and design phase of the project.  But when we are finished designing, I’ll have some computer rendered images to share.

If all goes well, we’re set to go back in January when construction will launch – it’s going to be amazing!
 

Related Information

There’s much more to Jinhua’s story . . . you’re invited to find out the rest of the story here:

• Connection with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
• Her University
• Partner Organization’s Fundraising Site

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Filed under: Patients & Families on October 30th, 2009