LJ Urban, a California-based ecologically sensitive home builder, has a Good Project that will fund the training of a West African home builder for every home sold in the Good Project in Sacramento. In addition, for every 10,000 website visitors between now and July 1st, LJ Urban will fund training for a home mason … with a commitment to fund up to 20 masons for now.

So far 3 home builders have been trained in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest nations in the world, by the LJ Urban project. The Good project has teamed with the Association La Voute Nubienne (AVN), who has spent the past 10 years designing and building socially, economically and ecologically sustainable housing options for the people of Burkina Faso.

In October 2007, their housing designs were recognized by the prestigious TechAwards.

The home builders being trained are local villagers in Africa. Labor costs account for 90% of the cost of the special AVN designed homes, with the majority of materials being locally available building materials. Some of this labor can be done by the families themselves, but the roof construction requires special training. This is where the training of the masons becomes important.

Trained masons also train apprentice masons. And services by both the families and home builders are bartered, as is common in Burkina Faso.

So far, 60 AVN builders have already been trained, and 100 apprentices are joining the program. It is hoped the number can double in the coming year, and that entire villages can be transformed by the new homes.

The ‘Good’ project in Sacramento is an eco-urban community, consisting of 35 individual homes in the Washington neighborhood of West Sacramento. The homes are LEED ND Certified, which is a third-party verification that the location and design meet accepted levels of environmentally responsible, sustainable development.

Information on donating or learning more about their program can be found on their website.