This is a story from Pakistan about the ongoing plight of Afghan refugees displaced from their homes due to the Russian attack on Afghanistan. The situation in Afghanistan was further compounded by deadly conflict between local warlords and rival ethnic groups. Pakistan itself has been struggling with poverty and mis-governance ever since its creation 57 years ago. The International Community was quick to react and sped resources to the refugee locations and began an elaborate relief mission that lasted for many years. Just as social welfare is mishandled in Afghanistan and Pakistan, so too was the case in the refugee camps. People with little or no imagination were provided with millions of dollars worth of goods and materials for providing succor to the unfortunate refugees. A sorry tale of greed and misappropriation ensued and the world looked on in apathy.
This is not to downplay the many stories of self-denial and dedication exhibited by individuals from various walks of life. Rather, this article is dedicated to those very selfless men and women who gave of their own selves to alleviate the misery of their brethren in distress.
There is a positive alternate, a veritable symphony in complete harmony with Nature, that is making steady progress towards an evolving and living Universe. Human ingenuity has seemingly shown that waste products that grossly pollute and degrade the natural environment can be treated to obtain valuable renewable resources. In like manner, a hopeless and terrified refugee population can be educated and put to work to fend for themselves rather than lie helplessly as prey to corrupt and callous so-called aid workers who aid none but themselves. This population once made aware and enabled can return to change their world to ensure a more vibrant and positive society.
This is the story of Abdul Khaliq, who was 5 when he came to Pakistan and is 24 years old at the time of this writing, and that of his family. Abdur Razzak is of Turkish heritage and lives in a well-built, rented home with his family of carpet weavers. Abdul Rehman, his father, is an accomplished carpet weaver and entrepreneur. He obtains orders for carpets, purchases the raw material and distributes it amongst his clan, all of whom have handlooms installed in their homes.
This tale of successful adaptation to hostile circumstances and the overcoming of odds to ensure survival for his clan impressed me as the Chairman for a Triple A (Appropriate, Adaptive & Applied) R&D NGO working in Pakistan. This led to the design of a Welfare Oriented Project that works on the lines of: Provision of Training, Equipment & Materials/ Credit and Marketing Support. The Project targeted the wool spinning and carpet weaving skills of Afghan Refugees for technique and skills transfer to local communities. This provided an opportunity to pass on the skills of Afghan Carpet manufacture, which fetch greater returns from the export ,arket. The project took practical shape and a spinning & weaving training center was established at Mansehra Road, Abbottabad, Pakistan. The first phase of the project was successfully completed and 35 trainees have been trained. It was envisaged to build up a community-based activity as a small-scale enterprise. Master trainers were to be provided with training centers at their villages for further training of women. It was intended to provide micro- credit facilities for equipment and raw materials in order to facilitate sustainable development as well as poverty alleviation and ensure participatory self-reliance.
The difference lies in the provision of marketing support, as many welfare organizations run training facilities which churn out semi-skilled individuals who promptly fail to market their, as yet, sub-standard production. The first faltering steps brook no failure and demand support in order to ensure sustainability. Just as the infant struggles to stand upon its own, so too the nascent entrepreneur is buffeted by inequitable market forces, with no level playing field in sight.
This model is present in different forms in different spheres of life. The tobacco and sugar cane industries have long supported growers in order to enable them to provide quality raw materials. The informal and unorganized private, cottage level producers of Sialkot, Gujranwala, and Faisalabad Districts of Punjab Province of Pakistan have developed a system of piece production by women in their own homes for central purchase and export. The workers are highly exploited and work under the worst conditions to subsidize production and transfer huge cost and sales differentials to unscrupulous middlemen. In this society even the “normal” farmer is deprived of his due share by middlemen without investment, who make at least as much, if not more, than the field worker who has invested financially as well as physically.
Thus this intervention is called for to provide relief to all including refugees, internally displaced persons, and the poverty-stricken.
“Clustering is generally defined as a process of firms and other actors co-locating within a concentrated geographical area, cooperating around a certain functional niche, and establishing close linkages and working alliances to improve their collective competitiveness… The importance of intensively interacting, geographically co-located activities, was recognized by geographers already in the 18th century but has been highlighted in analytical and normative economic literature since the last two decades. Policymakers have gradually tried to put it to practical use, and many public measures are now adopted or refined with reference to the cluster concept.”
- Jens Sorvik, co-author of the Cluster Policies Whitebook, the International Organization for Knowledge Economy and Enterprise Development (IKED), as quoted in dgExpertPerspective.
Clusters seem to be able to generate sets of benefits that help firms and regions to innovate and enhance competitiveness. At least three categories of common, partly inter-related benefits have been identified:
i) Enhanced Productivity
- Sharpened competition
- Enhanced specialization
- More knowledgeable customers
- Enhanced availability of specialized factor inputs
- Easier attraction and recruitment of a skilled labor force
ii) Improved Business Formation
- Deepening of seed and venture capital activities, resulting in greater competencies for handling risk in the formation of new ventures and cultivation of high-growth firms
- Personal knowledge replaces product references
- Virtual circles of new firm creation / spin-off activities /joint venture
- Effectiveness in mobilizing venture capital and human resources
iii) Improved Possibilities for Innovation
- Enhanced communication and display of opportunities for innovation
- Shortened start-up times of networks around new products and processes
- Early identification of technology trends
- Novel combinations of competencies
Cannot groups of refugees or internally displaced persons or the poverty stricken be treated as clusters? Do they not provide the ideal groups for interaction? Their very dire straits and critical needs make them eligible for all possible support on priority basis.
The functional niche for clusters can be expanded to include provision of essentials like beddings and clothes; construction of adequate shelter; provision of food and safe drinking water; disposal of solid and liquid waste and micro-enterprise for generating income.
Tall order, you say but this is possible through the use of eco-technology:
- For shelter by using Nader Khalili s Superadobe;
- Safe water through Media filtration such as alumina/cation-anion beds for fluoride filtration and or deionization
- Segregation of biodegradable and non-degradable solid waste at source;
- Rapid composting for biodegradable waste
- Treatment of liquid waste through bioaugmentation
- Conglomoculture for micro-enterprise
- A single Skills & Technology Transferring Center can be the hub for all subsequent interventions.
Shelter, the very first requirement is presently met by erecting a sea of canvass that hardly serves to meet the requirements of adequate shelter. Let us recapitulate the basic essentials of adequate shelter as enshrined in the United Nations vision:
1. Protection from the elements
2. Hygienic disposal of household and human waste
3. Sufficient space for health and privacy
4. Security of tenure and occupancy
5. Access to sufficient safe water
6. Affordability
7. Access to employment and to health and educational services
How is it possible to achieve as many of these standards as possible when even host countries are not able to provide them to their own populace despite prevailing peace? Let us begin with Permaculture. Before going into the details of constructing a progressive alternate it is essential to take into consideration those factors that are non-material. The first factor for planning an abode is location and orientation. Whereas location is often predetermined due to availability; inherent location defects can be overcome by means of correct orientation.
The second obvious step is construction of shelter. The concept of adobe housing is ancient and is still being used in many under-developed/ developing Countries. Inexpensive material and quick building have always been the hallmarks of such types of building. Insecurity of tenancy adds to the requirement of building an inexpensive and semi-permanent home. Crude and primitive, they nonetheless provide some features of climatic adaptation that are worth considering.
Advantages:
- Earthen walls gain and lose heat slowly
- Material readily available, usually free of cost
- Quick drying/ fast building
Disadvantages:
- Roofing gains and loses heat rapidly
- Needs constant maintenance
- Leaking roofs
As opposed to simple adobe construction, the concept of Ceramic Adobe Housing is relatively new, which uses the "Gelaftan" technique, Persian words signifying Clay Firing, (Gel = Clay; Taftan = Firing). Nader Khalili of Iran has used this concept. He developed the idea from observing kilns for baking ceramics; pottery and tiles as well as the Middle Eastern Ovens (Tandoors) for baking of bread (Nan/ Roti). Combining all of the above while using the concepts of the dome, arch and vault, Khalili developed a low-cost; virtually non-destructible; earthquake proof; waterproof; insect proof and highly hygienic house. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as well as NASA has accepted the concept for use in outer space. To put the concept in simple terms a domed structure of clay is constructed. Openings for doors and windows are made and then temporarily sealed. The building is filled with inexpensive fuel material and fired. Temperature is allowed to rise till 16000 F for 48 hours. This process slowly bakes the walls; floor and roof to an almost indestructible level and the house is ready for habitation.
Advantages:
- Inexpensive and readily available materials (Clay and brushwood)
- Quick to build
- Virtually indestructible
- Fire proof
- Insect proof
- Earthquake proof
- Waterproof
- Highly hygienic
- Low cost
- Super insulated
Earth Sheltered; Ceramic Adobe; Passive Solar Housing; ESCAPS House (Escape House): Escape into the 21st Century by using a combination of three techniques. This combination is virtually unbeatable especially in the extreme climatic conditions that prevail in many parts of the world. The extremely low cost as compared to the type and long lasting qualities of construction are truly amazing. Usual concepts of low cost houses are inefficient and depressing. This concept utilizes the extremely pleasing design of a Geodesic Dome and incorporates the advantages of Earth Sheltered and Passive Solar Techniques.
Similarly other earth-friendly technologies can make a difference to sustainability with low cost. Why do people hesitate to adopt them? Because they are of low cost and do not make for fat commissions?
Conglomoculture is the name we have given for the new, adapted approach. The power of the conglomorate can be transferred to the people.
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