Skip to content

Nicolo Franceschetti: Student Report from 2016 Alternative Spring Break in Belize


House at Barzakh Falah
An earth bag house at the farm, Barzakh Falah.

My trip to San Ignacio, Belize, was an irreplaceable experience. The purpose of the trip was to volunteer in building an earth-bag structure at the Barzakh Falah girls’ orphanage site as well as to experience the country. Not only did we manage to do both, but were able to do more work for the orphanage than any other previous group as well as experience Mayan ruins, the town of San Ignacio, an iguana sanctuary, St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park, the Mennonite community of Springfield, and horseback riding.

I would like to focus my writing on the construction of the orphanage and the unity and teamwork that resulted from our project. Our volunteer group worked on a root cellar for one of the dormitories of the orphanage. This dormitory is planned to be the largest building at the site thus far.

The construction of the orphanage is headed by Jaime Marin, the architect and manager of the construction. The guiding principles of the project are sustainability and hospitality for the girls.

Work Site at Barzakh Falah
Work site for the construction of a root cellar on Barzakh Falah.

The earth-bag construction consists of polypropylene bags filled with a soil and lime mixture and stacked in a cylindrical fashion. Earth-bag structures are extremely durable and believed to last hundreds of years if plastered properly. The primary source of damage for the structures is UV light, which can deteriorate the propylene. For this reason, the work-in-progress is covered with a tarp and the finished structure is plastered upon completion. The durability of earth-bag construction is appropriate for a hurricane-prone region such as Belize and is a component of the orphanage’s sense of sustainability. Furthermore, earth-bag structures are more durable, as well as significantly cheaper than concrete structures, which require heavy machinery and more costly materials. However, the construction process is very labor intensive and is still being optimized. Jaime relies on volunteer work to complete the labor efficiently. He told us that volunteers tend to work harder, as paid workers decide how hard they work based on their pay.

Soil was shoveled into buckets and poured into a concrete mixer with lime. A 10% lime to soil mixture was used. Lime adds adhesive properties to the mixture when moisture is added. After mixing, water was added and the mixture was and carried in buckets to the bagging site. Bagging was completed by pouring the mixture into the propylene bags which have been aligned with the wall. Metal shafts were used to ease the process of pouring the mixture. When full, the bag is fastened with a wire. The bag is then dropped in place horizontally and pushed against the other bags. Since the root cellar is underground, the wall is angled at a slight outward incline to reduce the force of the soil on the wall as the wall rises towards ground level. Once a layer of bags is completed, it is compacted with a tamper. This settles the mixture and allows for adhesion. Once tamped, barbed wire is placed along the surface. The purpose of the barbed wire is to create frictional forces between the bags and tensile strength for the wall.

At first, we did not feel very efficient in this construction process, as we tested out the different duties involved. Soon, we found our strong suits and became a great team of workers. The primary duties were shoveling, carrying buckets, and bagging. I improved my shoveling skills tremendously during the trip.

Complete Root Cellar
Root cellar on Barzakh Falah completed by University of Tennessee students.

We were expected to go through four bags of lime for a day’s worth of work. Seeing our great work effort, Jaime encouraged us to do eight bags of lime a day, and in return, he would take us swimming at the St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park. The group agreed and we followed through with the plan and ended up doing more work than any previous group as well as reaching ground level for the root cellar. The team’s work on the root cellar united us as a group and made the cultural experiences even more enjoyable and appreciated.