Doing It Right the First Time After an earthquake there is a humanitarian rush to rebuild destroyed houses. But what if the new houses are just as poorly-built, weak and dangerous as the old ones? This is exactly what Elizabeth found in the Aceh province of Indonesia: she says some NGOs weren't paying attention to construction quality. They were rushing to build quickly and weren't checking to make sure the builders had built correctly; Elizabeth and her Build Change team saw sloppy masonry work, missing elements, and poor construction. This was infuriating and, quite understandably, homeowners were protesting about the poor quality. What's the point in building a new house that will simply collapse in the next earthquake, and that will need to be rebuilt again? They set out to change this situation. Support ANA BLUE WING and help Elizabeth get rebuilding right the first time, every time. https://www.ana-bluewing.com/en/changemakers/elizabeth_hausler/ #elizabeth #ANABLUEWING

Lasting change comes from involving the top At first, Build Change worked very much with local people, from the bottom up, but then realized that to create really large scale change it's necessary to partner with government. Elizabeth says: "In most countries in which we work, the government's involved in housing, one way or another. If we're able to partner with the government and work from the top down at the same time, we can have a much bigger impact because there's more money to be leveraged; there is more finance available for people to strengthen their homes and build safely." Share this post and help raise governmental awareness of the success of partnering with social businesses like Build Change. https://www.ana-bluewing.com/en/changemakers/elizabeth_hausler/ #elizabeth #ANABLUEWING

Independence is in my DNA Elizabeth is well aware of her independence streak. "It comes from my dad, who ran his own business. My sister also runs her own business. My family is like this: we don't want other people to tell us what to do! That's why I started my own social change project." Support ANA BLUE WING and help stubborn independents like Elizabeth change lives for the better. https://www.ana-bluewing.com/en/changemakers/elizabeth_hausler/ #elizabeth #ANABLUEWING

Gupta and The Safe Building Application It takes more than just bricks and money to make infrastructure earthquake-proof. Professional engineers, trained builders, and information on safe building techniques are all vital, but how do rural people in poor areas get access to them? Answer: via cheap modern technology. Enter Khusbhu Gupta, Computer Engineer and Programmer, who managed Build Change's FULCRUM app that provides construction advice, quality monitoring, and real-time communications between local people, engineers, builders, and project managers. FULCRUM makes communications efficient and productive; Khusbhu worked with FULCRUM for the Build Change office in Nepal. Her fantastic work has earned her a full scholarship to pursue a Masters in Data Science at Mahidol University in Thailand. Share this story and help Build Change help more women change their lives. https://www.ana-bluewing.com/en/changemakers/elizabeth_hausler/ #elizabeth #ANABLUEWING

My Son Changed Me One of the reasons Build Change has started working on schools is that Elizabeth has a 5-year-old son. "When he was born it made me think differently about education, about educational infrastructure, and about how devastating it would be to lose your child in an earthquake. It made the loss much easier to imagine; more direct, and personal to me. It has evolved my thinking, and Build Change's direction with it." https://www.ana-bluewing.com/en/changemakers/elizabeth_hausler/ #elizabeth #ANABLUEWING