Support Sought For Panama Project

By Nancy K. Crevier

Kate Daugherty, a 2005 graduate of Newtown High School and a senior majoring in architecture at the University of Hartford College of Architectural Engineering and Technology, will join 14 fellow students in the first of two trips to Panama, January 9 to 18, as they develop a design-build project with Global Architecture Brigades addressing the issues of indigenous housing, sustainable agriculture, and community-based construction.

Students will meet with the client, conduct an extensive site analysis, and produce a basic design during the January trip. Then during the next semester, information collected from the first trip will be used to design a solution to the problems the group identifies. Once the students are finished with the design, they will return to Panama to construct the project with the client and community assistance.

Ms Daugherty will be working with a small farm community in Granja Guacamayo, Panama, whose crops have struggled to produce due to poor soil conditions. “These farmers are looking to develop the local tourism industry in the area,” she said. Located on the northern coast of Panama, this region is popular with the surfing community.

“Our class will be designing and constructing cabins that will accommodate the needs of visitors, who will then pay the local farmers to stay for an extended period of time. Through design solutions our class will be helping to bring a more dependable revenue to the area,” said Ms Daugherty.

The group has received donations of $2,000 to pay for transportation to and accommodations in Panama, as well as with construction costs of the projects, but each student is responsible for the $1,200 cost per person.

To find out more about the Global Architecture Brigade, visit the website globalbrigades.org. “Please know that anything you can offer will help empower a community in the developing world to achieve social and economic sustainability,” said Ms Daugherty.

Donations may be sent to 5 Lilac Circle, Derby CT 06418. For a receipt for tax purposes, contact Ms Daugherty at daugherty@hartford.edu.