In many of the areas we work people live in mud and stick houses. These homes provide very little shelter from the elements and also provide ideal living conditions for the triatomine bug. This beetle is responsible for the spread of Chagas disease which is incredibly widespread in the areas where we work (the highest infection rates in the world). Agua Yaku is responding to this problem by beginning to develop housing solutions that would provide much safer and longer lasting housing alternatives. Our first project has been the construction of a sand bag house.

This fits inside of our ministry philosophy very well.

Just like our wells and pumps, the house is build entirely out of locally available and low cost materials. Labor intensive but financially affordable this style of building could offer a solution to communities looking to establish safer homes and help eliminate Chagas. We hope to keep moving ahead implementing this as part of our compassionate impact in communities.

This week a group from Crossroads Church in Lexington, Kentucky stopped by for a day to help out.