| inbluevt | Date: Saturday, 2013/10/26, 1:45 AM | Message # 1 | DMCA |
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The howling wind is always the first thing that Sayunda Hassan Ibrahim hears when she wakes up in the morning. The constant buffeting makes the walls shake, but something has been different for the past three weeks. Although Sayunda still hears the wind, she doesn't notice
it as much as when she lived in a tent. When she gazes up from her sleeping mat these days, she sees beige roof panels, metal and plastic supporting rods and plastic bolts. It's a strange sight for this young refugee from the Somali countryside. An average consumer from Western Europe, though, might recognize some of the components.
The Swedish furniture giant IKEA had 13 newly developed huts erected on the Ethiopian savanna at the Kobe refugee camp last August. The precisely arranged row of Swedish-designed structures stands in stark contrast to the tents and barracks in other parts of the camp. It's a
test case for the company, and if the IKEA huts pass, they could soon offer refugees around the world a better home than conventional tents.
"It's essential to test these structures in a raw environment to get an impression of their durability," says Olivier Delarue from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which currently houses more than 10 million people worldwide. He says he hopes these new shelters will
provide "physical protection, but also emotional benefits like dignity and privacy." The initial test phase is due to be completed by the end of the year.
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The Swedish furniture giant IKEA has sent self-assembly huts to the savanna of Ethiopia to house Somali refugees. If the test case proves successful, they soon could be used as alternatives to tents in other parts of the world.
Message edited by inbluevt - Saturday, 2013/10/26, 1:46 AM |
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