ABSTRACT
Housing construction in a post-disaster context is essentially like construction at any time, only with resource constraints and a pressing urgency. The aid world, however, sees it as an entirely different situation and usually pumps in assistance that is foreign to the context and that often derails the natural processes of sustainable recovery. There is a need to acknowledge and capitalize on the existing potential that communities have, including knowledge, skills, local materials, and sometimes even some funds. The case of post-flood recovery in Barmer, India, highlights the advantages of looking into these existing capacities, and leveraging people’s science to put in place an appropriate building solution. The process is the key; external assistance in terms of technological know-how has an important but marginal role, as symbolized by the 5 percent cement that strengthens local mud to better resist future disasters. In this context, the term ‘technology’ is taken in its broader sense, as a formal, defined methodological or material solution, which is different from the flexible ‘people’s science’ that is more a way of life in traditional communities.
