An update from Harvey Lacey in a way only Harvey can talk. Hi Y’all, Life is pretty good for me right now.  I’ve got a paying client that can afford my creativity and I’m doing stuff most people third to half my age can only dream about.  I just had my annual VA physical, Agent Orange thing, and the tests come up with me being finer’n frog hair. Everyone knows you can’t get much finer’n that.  Well, there is the cholesterol thing, numbers, bad ones, creeping up a bit.  But we agreed that four to five range eggs a day might be the source for that.  So I’m now eating six eggs a day but I give back all the yokes to the chickens, they don’t live long enough to worry about the cholesterol thing.  I have. Then there’s this damn ubuntublox thing that grabbed me by the tenderest parts thirty seven months ago.  It won’t let go, saving the planet, educating kids and their parents about recycling, etc and so on. Two of the biggest hiccups in the get a long have been making it important local, we’re talking Dallas type places.  And making it where the block making process is easier and cheaper so we empower anyone with a hankering to make a difference in their own world can do it. I have the machine to make the blocks down to almost nothing to make and the materials for making the blocks to just pennies per block. Then tonight I woke up and I was working with President Sorrel and the students at Paul Quinn on designing and laying out community gardens in some of the neglected communities in the area.  It’s a thing I do, wake up working on what the semi-sleep thing has worked up/out. Dallas had an editorial the other day about a community garden project in west Dallas.  I went to the discussion area on the column and people were jumping all over the idea like it was the worst thing possible because of soil contamination, mostly the lead poisoning that we know is a real issue.  So I did a google search and found out something really interesting, we don’t have to remove fifteen inches of top soil before it is safe for use for gardening.  We can add a layer of clean top soil and build from there, composting and other good stuff project also. So here’s the deal, we can build two ubuntublox high walls sectioning off plots for planting the gardens.  The plots are filled with topsoil provided by the city from excavations and compost created by participants.  We can even build the compost bins and storage sheds with...

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Definition of Ubuntu  “A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.”  When we remember what the definition of the word Ubuntu means in Swahili, “humanity towards others”, we see why the Ubuntu Blox Housing concept, invented by Harvey Lacey, is going to become a force worldwide with those who understand that we need to work together to improve our world as a ONE.   Even though Ubuntu Blox is not a full fledged organization or cause, it has a leader and a believer behind it in Harvey who continues to reach out to people from all over the world with tweets, Facebook updates and emails.  He continues to build his tribe and those tribes have leaders who will take the concept and turn it into a reality.  Here is a recent write up by Melissa Schilling of Project Hope Art http://projecthopeart.org/ that Melissa hopes will fund the organization to get more exposure for Ubuntu Blox housing as well as the funds needed to get Haitians building Ubuntu Blox homes.  Melissa does a great job telling the story with her “eyes” and beautiful pictures by mirroring the artist himself, Harvey Lacey. http://projecthopeart.org/2013/05/28/the-house-that-trash-built-an-open-source-building-technology/  ...

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Harvey found gold in the plant veviter that is used in Haiti to produce essential oils, their number one export. Now, instead of only relying on plastic trash, the may not be found in all parts of Haiti, the people can use this plant to bu ilt Ubuntu-Blox homes. This is a game changer for Ubutnu-Blox and for the people of Haiti who live in rural areas. Check out how easy it is for the people to build blocks. Again, the Ubuntu Blox home is hurricane and earthquake proof. This plant also helps stops pests such as termites. Congratulations Harvey Lacey. We need all of your FB friends to help us find a way to get some funding to help the people build their own Ubuntu-Blox homes in Haiti and around the world!Ubuntu-Blox House Blocks Built With...

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Here is a trip report from Harvey and his latest findings in Haiti.  His note is long and passionate.  He feels that there is hope for Ubuntu-Blox housing if the people of Haiti get a chance to be a part of the process.  Looks like he is getting there.  Peace and light to all. November 2012 trip to Haiti Veteran’s Day The flight from DFW to Ft Lauderdale and the flight from there to Port Au Prince I was blessed with aisle seats. Not because of the generosity of AA’s ticketing program but happenstance. I was ticketed to sit in the middle of a group of women flying together but one of them had a much better seat elsewhere, we swapped. The flight to Haiti there was only two of us sitting in our row so I sat by the aisle again. One of the nightmares of visiting Haiti is going through customs, the airport in general. You stand in line to have your passport stamped. Then you have to collect your luggage. After you go through customs which is usually just a cursory question and answer thing you fight the gauntlet of men grabbing your luggage and to walk with you to the parking lot. The men are very good at either bullying you into grabbing a bag or convincing you that they are the ones your group has sent to help you. Once you are in the parking lot the haggling begins for the service they have provided. I was told the first visit to Haiti to pay them two dollars. They begin by asking for twenty. It isn’t any fun. This time when we came down the ramp there was a nice young man with a paper with my name on it. He had a friend and they asked for my passport and declarations. I didn’t stand in any line. I waited outside and office. It was just a couple of minutes when they returned and we went get the luggage. We went unmolested through the baggage handlers and straight to a small pickup. Marlene and the driver were waiting for me. We went from the airport to Haiti Communitere to deliver the medical supplies we had brought for Dr. Coffee. I only knew two of the volunteers there. But the Haitians working security and who knew me from before seemed to be ecstatic to see me. It was very heartwarming to see them again. We arranged to borrow an Ubuntublox machine the next morning. I believe Marlene was impressed with the Ubuntublox house. I know I was. Monday 12th It started off running late. The driver was helping another member of the organization who had...

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