Cyclone-resistant eco-house sparks hope in Vanuatu

A partnership between Te Puke residents and the people of Vanuatu has led to the construction of an eco-house made of recycled tyres on the island of Tanna.

The structure has been designed to withstand both cyclones and earthquakes and will be used as a community shelter during future cyclones.

Kiwi charity Fruit of the Pacific began the project earlier this year and ni-Vanuatu (people of Vanuatu) living in New Zealand and locals from Te Puke built a demo version of the eco-house. An instructional DVD and manuals produced during the build were sent to Vanuatu.

Joe Iautu, who owns a tyre shop on Tanna, built the final eco-house, known as Strong Hoas, with the help of others in his village, drawing on guidance from the DVD and manuals.

The project was not the first partnership between Te Puke and Tanna. More than 80 people from Tanna have spent six months every year working in Te Puke, picking fruit, for the past eight years.

Fruit of the Pacific was founded in 2010 to empower ni-Vanuatu working in Te Puke to participate in community development projects.

The organisation's chief executive, Kylie Dellabarca-Steel, was in Vanuatu attending a conference when Cyclone Pam hit in March 2015. After witnessing the destruction it caused first hand, Ms Dellabarca-Steel, was compelled to help with the rebuild.

“It was like a desert. None of the trees had any leaves or branches. By the time I left, everything was dying.

“It was really disheartening leaving after the cyclone. Seeing [friends’] homes and all their hard work over the last five years blown away to nothing,” said Ms Dellabarca-Steel.

Back in New Zealand, Ms Dellabarca-Steel was inspired to begin the Strong Hoas project after learning of a similar eco-houses in the Philippines.

Ms Dellabarca-Steel visited Tanna in April to see the eco-house for the first time.

“It really sparked off hope. Often people on Tanna don’t have the money or the resources to build what we would call a strong house, a Western-style house. So to have given them an option that is cheap, it just requires manpower, which they’ve got plenty of, is really exciting for them,” she said.

There were plans to build five more in villages across the island, Ms Dellabarca-Steel said. Local residents and the Vanuatu government would now drive the new projects.

"Our model is very much teach them something and let them run with it. Watching people do projects themselves is way more empowering than going over and helping them."