community

AfHDC mentored 2nd grade students on the basic principles of sustainable design for an open competition offered by the Montgomery County Public Schools. AfHDC members volunteered some of their time to visit the kids at their school and explain sustainable design principles through drawing and handouts of diagrams.

Akilah Institute will seek to create an environment that promote enduring peace in a post-conflict society through training and educating the female population with vocational skills. The project team has recognized that a holistic approach to reconciliation is vital. RAVI will combine human rights, education, and economic development with green and sustainable design strategies to provide opportunities to the 200+ students. All of these components are essential to create lasting peace and community empowerment in a region devastated by decades of violence and civil war.

Working with REACH and Bethania Kids, there are two sites we are exploring to accommodate the housing of orphanages in southern India. The 1st site which we will be exploring is about an acre, accommodating about 45 orphanages. We are viewing this site as a smaller scaled prototype site to apply onto the 2nd site, a larger site looking to accommodate 200+ orphanges with consideration to having a "handicapped friendly" building and a day care center. Both are exciting sites and since we picked this up recently in December, we are looking for members to participate in this project. The scope of work is to design both sites to accommodate the orphanes needs, establish a form of "branding", and fundraising opportunies.

Design services for a nursery school playground located in Hung Trach Commune. The project was developed to work with a small budget and develop solutions to create a safer play environment by referring US stringent safety code measures.

We are designing a Donate and Shop space that allows for donations to be channeled, organized and then placed for display for the individuals to shop as they please. The design is planned to go to a schematic level. During construction, we will be looking to see if members would be interested in helping out also.

We look to design for the village of Umueze, Nigeria a safe and functional primary schoolhouse. The new building is to replace an existing schoolhouse that has become old and dilapidated, requiring a disproportionate amount of resources and maintenance. The schoolhouse is seen as the center of growth within the village. It is not only a place for children to learn, but a gathering place for the students to populate and create connections that strengthen the community as a whole.

SOME (So Others Might Eat) is an interfaith, community based non profit organization that exists to help the poor and the homeless in Washington, DC. One of their Single Room Occupancy (SRO) homes called the Shalom House needs work done to their communal bathrooms, communal kitchens, and efficiency kitchens. They would also like AFH-DC's help in designing an exterior awning for their entrance, and signage that can be seen from the train line down the street.