The first steps in a Build Change project involve investigating sites of major earthquakes to find out why the collapsed buildings failed. “The earthquake didn’t kill people,” Hausler says. “The buildings killed people. These were unreinforced masonry buildings that collapsed.”
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Build Change got under way in Indonesia following the massive December 2004 quake and resulting tsunami off the west coast of northern Sumatra, which killed nearly 228,000 and displaced 1.7 million people. Hausler moved to Aceh, Indonesia, in 2005, where she used bricklaying contests to establish rapport with the young men she was teaching building skills.
PHOTO COURTESY BUILD CHANGE

Hausler solicited advice from Bay Area structural engineers to design a customizable template and supporting documentation for a low-cost home using a confined masonry approach. Availability of local materials must be considered as well as local and cultural realities. For example, residents avoid concrete block because it is poorly made in Indonesia; and, although a no-no in standard quake-resistant design, residents want tall walls and windows to provide ventilation in a region with high heat and humidity.
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Rebuilding requires not only a good design but teaching local residents how to build and how to supervise the building. The Indonesian design ensures earthquake resistance by using well-made bricks as well as steel and concrete reinforcement to make sure each joint overlaps in its connections. By the time Hausler left Indonesia, Build Change had influenced the construction of 4,200 homes.
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Hausler moved to China in August 2008 following the May 12 earthquake that hit Sichuan, China, registering 7.9 on the Richter scale. She lives in the Build Change field office in Sichuan with other Build Change staff, women in one room and men in another; two adjacent rooms serve as offices.
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The quake affected about 45 million people in 10 provinces and regions, leaving more than 69,000 dead, 374,000 injured and 18,000 missing throughout the Chengdu-Lixian-Guangyuan area. An estimated 5.36 million buildings collapsed and more than 21 million buildings were damaged in Sichuan and in parts of Chongqing, Gansu, Hubei, Shaanxi and Yunnan. More than 5 million people lost their homes.
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Many residents are living in their hollowed out homes and trying to live their lives as normally as possible while their new homes are being built.
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Hausler works with local translators because her vocabulary in Mandarin Chinese is limited to ni hao (hello), xie xie (thank you) and simple numbers. She now has a staff of 50 in Indonesia and China, including structural engineers, a drafter/designer, cost estimators and construction trainers.
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Meeting with cash-strapped homeowners who are anxious to rebuild their homes as quickly as possible, Hausler must convince them to find good contractors who will use quality materials and follow good earthquake safety construction practices.
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Build Change trains homeowners outdoors because the quake has devastated the town’s buildings. “Without Build Change, no one in the village would have known how to build a house,” said Xing Dayan, one resident who is now living in her new reinforced home.
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