Learn why our clinics tend to be situated on two floors rather than spread over a single floor. Why do we build with concrete, rather than wood and other locally available materials? What does 135° have to do with earthquakes and why are we so fixated on this angle?
That was in the Philippines alone. Much of South East Asia is located in a typhoon belt and suffers annual devastation in many areas from the impacts of these typhoons. Wind is only the first issue, with flash flooding and land slides causing the most fatalities. Our clinics are often located directly in the path of these storms.
It's the reason we build double story buildings. In the face of oncoming typhoons, all water sensitive materials can be moved to the safety of the upper floor and the cleared ground floor can act as a temporary shelter for at-risk families, during and after the storm.
and lots of it. Reinforced with rebar, we construct our clinics to be as earthquake proof as possible. That's where the 135° (What you get if you subtract 45° from 180°) comes in. Traditionally reinforced columns and beams use stirrups closed at 90°. These pull loose in the event of an earthquake, weakening the structure and collapsing columns and beams.
If the closures on the stirrups are however bent to 135° then they cannot be pried open by movement that occurs in the building during an earthquake To ensure the safety of our clinics, staff and patients in earthquake prone zones in Asia we take every precaution to exceed recommended building standards.
As our Clinics are designed to be self-sustaining, ensuring we extend the life of the physical premises with sound building practices ensures the site's ability to deliver care for decades withour reliance on additional donor funding.
Help us expand our vision and build a better world. Your donations are applied directly to building projects and help ensure that we can reach disadvantaged women and infants who have little to no access to healthcare and our Clinic Model stretches your dollar over decades.