PSF works in two areas of construction: Community Projects and Direct Home Assistance.

Community Projects: These are projects that benefit an entire community, such as working in schools or building community bathrooms. Most of these projects start as a result of talking to the communities and assessing their needs. Others projects are inspired by volunteers.  

Direct Home Assistance: These are projects in which we help a specific family improve their housing.  Depending on the situation, we help build new homes or aid the family in repairing or upgrading their existing home.

We work on a variety of community projects at all times.  These include community bathrooms, parks, community centers, wetlands development and assistance in schools.

Many communities live without access to adequate sanitation. For many, a toilet consists of a bucket in the corner that they empty onto the streets or fields. Using donations, PSF constructs communal bathroom facilities in these areas. In the past, we have built both flushing toilets and compost toilets; our current focus is on permanent, flushing toilets.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of people in and around Pisco live, eat, sleep and raise their children on dirt floors. The main focus of theMiracle Fund is to give families permanent, safe and healthy concrete floors, improving their living conditions and the quality of their homes. Volunteers shovel sand and stones into the cement mixer and then take the concrete in wheelbarrows to be poured onto the floor. Those trained in the process then flatten out the concrete and smooth it over to create a nice new floor.

If you would like to make a donation to give a family a concrete floor, please go to the Donate page.

Before any brick houses can be built, we must dig trenches for the foundations. PSF goes onsite with picks and spades, digging the foundations for new homes.
 

When the trenches are dug, volunteers pour concrete into them to create strong footings for bricks. When the brickwork is finished, some houses also receive a concrete roof.

Bricklaying is an excellent new skill for many of our volunteers to learn from the seasoned veterans. We assist local “maestros,” or professional carpenters, helping with laying brick to construct sturdy walls. 

Many people around Pisco still live tents and makeshift shacks. As a temporary, yet more stable solution to the housing problem, many international organizations donated wood, metal and drywall after the earthquake. PSF helps in the construction and movement of these homes, as well as spearheading our own modular home project using recycled wood. For more information see our Modular Homes page.

Earthbag construction uses bags filled with earth in place of bricks to create cheaper, more earthquake resistant buildings. We have recently finished building a community centre and toilet, just down the road from our headquarters. To find out more, visit our Earthbag Construction page.

Many people live in Esterra homes made out of sheets of crushed bamboo and plastic. For many families, these are the only materials they can afford. Esterra homes are not sturdy and the materials only last for a couple of years. We help to repair and build Esterra houses.

Although the earthquake was several years ago, there is still demolition work to be done. Damaged walls need to be knocked down, old concrete floors need to be destroyed and rubble needs to be removed to make way for new homes.

PSF receives free wood from a steel factory called Aceros Arequipa. We use this wood to construct houses in our Modular Homes project, as well as to make desks and chairs for schools and beds for homes.  The poor housing conditions in much of Pisco leave many children without a suitable place in their homes to complete their homework, other than on dirt floors.  We also use this donated wood to build desks to provide these children with a comfortable place to study at home.