Colorado Yurt Company wanted to help with the relief effort in Haiti after the earthquake, but was stumped on where to begin and how to make it happen so their donation would not get lost in the shuffle and end up sitting somewhere for who knows how long.
Sam Kigar worked with a friend Chris to get 5 tents to some doctors in Haiti and you can read more about the design below the picture and read his blog post at the Colorado Yurt Company’s blog.
They decided on a simple design: six vertical poles, guy-ropes, and overall dimensions of roughly 7ft x 7ft x 7ft. All the poles would be of the same length– 3.5 ft– the verticals at the front and back would each be two 3.5′ poles, fitted together. The exterior was to be a light weight synthetic material that could be rolled up to expose screen walls. The whole thing would fit into a duffel bag.
By close of business on Monday, we had worked out the design and the first tent was done.
There is also still a great need for shelter. In the New York Times, Niurka Piñeiro, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration, said, “Tents, tents, tents. That’s the word we want to get out. We need tents.” Colorado Yurt Company has the capability to make a modest number of tents. We are currently setting up a partnership with a relief organization that can put our tents to immediate use. Stand by for information on how you can help.