Guinea Shelter | Henry Becerril

The Guinea Bissau shelter is located in the eastern part of the country in the region of Gabu. The difficult living conditions caused primarily by poverty, the almost inexistent urban infrastructure and equipment, and the lack of social programs mean that life expectancy in this country is around 45 years old. Organizations such as ONGD ¨ASSOCIACIÓ MERCATALONIA SOLIDÀRIA AMB LES DONES DE L'ÀFRICA¨ have had the intention of attending to a highly sensitive population of children and poor women in this region through a shelter. The plan starts with extensive field research which covers the history, economics, geography, politics, culture, urban infrastructure, climate and so on. From these we determined that the shelter not only had the possibility of housing and caring for a certain number of children and women, but there was also a chance to help people from surrounding communities through a social program and preventive medicine (such as vaccination campaigns, birth control, general medicine). Therefore the initial program of the shelter has been extended, so that the shelter can support itself by receiving a small amount of money needed for the material and maintenance of non-profit shelter, along with social assistance. However the sole intention of protecting the children in a safe place was not enough. There was the possibility of these children getting an education, so in the shelter there are two classrooms where children can have access to education. Furthermore the project also proposed that children and women, besides attending classes, have access to various workshops. Children learn a trade such as carpentry, electricity, drawing and so on, and women themselves create some kinds of crafts, woven products and textiles of the region which they can sell for the sole purpose of supporting the shelter. So, the project includes 7 workshops of various trades. Also we could not ignore the recreational part in the project for which we have designed large recreational areas for leisure which include a soccer field, a basketball court and a playground. Thus, the project, originally envisaged only as a place of shelter for poor children and women, has changed radically with the purpose of offering a better quality of life for its residents. It has been distributed in three buildings. 1. The shelter is located on the right side of the whole administrative area. 2. The area of social programs and preventive medicine is on the left side. 3. At the back of the complex we are constructing a building to house the children and women; it is on two floors: the ground floor is for the children and the upstairs is for the women, the dining room, the master kitchen, the bathrooms, the locker rooms, two classrooms, seven workshops and the service area. 3 The construction of the building is a combination of simple building systems and high technology. The walls are high and wide to bring down the heat, and they´ll be made of adobe. The ceilings will be of wooden beams; the floors will be of cement with color, and the windows will be shaped wooden blinds to allow cool air to flow into the rooms. This is a simple combination allowing formal and visual integration of the building with the natural setting through the use of materials from nature. It is to work together with nature. However, the electricity will be supplied by solar cells which will produce all the electricity consumed by the shelter.