Hi Duane

This Oxfam report agrees pretty closely with your outline. Bucky also created an inventory of dweling requirements.

"The devastating earthquake that struck Indonesia on May 27 has flattened villages, killing thousands and leaving 100,000 to 200,000 survivors homeless.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Where did the greatest damage occur?
* Within Yogyakarta Province, the sub-district of Bantul was hardest-hit, with 2,159 reported dead and 1,889 injured. Seventy to eighty percent of the houses in Bantul have completely collapsed.
* In Central Java Province, the greatest damage took place in the sub-district of Klaten, with 727 reported dead and 1,224 reported injured.

What are the most urgent needs of the survivors?
* medical treatment, supplies and staff
* emergency shelter
* clean water and sanitation facilities
* food
* relief items like hygiene kits "

Sheltering the penniless:
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/penniless

Some type of sheltering is a very good idea for these ppl,
but more than that is required.

The roadblocks:

1) Drinkable water
2) Labor
3) Materials
4) Extreme heat (most of the year)
5) Food
6) Money

Some would say with money you can solve the other problems,
and that is somewhat true, but it is best to look for
solution that doesn't require money for labor or materials
so that what little money is raised can go to other
unforseen needs.

1) Drinkable water:

Rivers, creeks, streams, solar stills could be employed
made from waste materials that are clean.

Cachement that catches rain water could also supplment this .

Survival solar stills work off aerial evaporation of humidity.

http://www.solaqua.com/solstilbas.html
http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/dec/stories/water.html

For large numbers of ppl and to support surge numbers,
it would need to be built to over capacity.

Water storage could be achieved via cisterns, or other
means with cost in mind . As many of these ppl are
transient perhaps sterilized used milk jugs and 2 litre
bottles instead of sending them to the city dump to
"never" compost properly.

US trucking operators could receive and haul empty 2 liter
bottles and milk jugs for water storage to the US border for a
tax break for water storage. These could be delivered to these
trucking operators by the millions of migrant workers in the US.

2) Labor:

volunteer labor, transients themselves who are able,
community service workers, and if money permits paid labor.

3) Materials:

The Cheapest materials available for housing are the earth itself,
in the forms of semi-underground housing or Adobe housing.
If Adobe it will require a fair source of clay and water.

Three feet down the temperature is roughly 59 degrees year round
in most places in the world save the perma frost, and other
very extreme areas .

The summer heat could kill young children or the ill .

The earth's natural air conditioner could provide .

Also if you build of materials that can be carried off and
sold, most likely they will be carried off and sold.

Desperate ppl, desperate measures.

Some kind of consideration for scorpions and snakes would need
to be made, perhaps some kind of sound frequency would run off
the snakes and scorpions or some kind of smell.

4) Extreme heat (most of the year):

See #3

5) Food:

Food could be given out for volunteering, or any type of assitance.

Free food for any that wants it might incur ppl to collect it to
sell it to make money under false pretenses, or start a mass rush
to the border for the free food.

Food that is earned will only attract those willing to work for it.

Not a totally Eutopian view, but a pragmatic one.

Exceptions to be made for the ill, infirm, and young.

Most of the border area is not very well suited for growing
of crops, and the lack of water and extreme heat make it moreso.

Some plants will grow in the area, as well some hardy animals
like goats which mexicans also happen to like.

The known foods to exist there are detailed here :

http://www.desertusa.com/mag05/feb/food.html

Others could be introduced like fish farming near rivers.

Bee Hives for honey, and fruit trees if water is nearby.

Water for irrigation could come from wind powered water wells
like those that used to dot the landscape of the US.

Dempster was one manufacturer:

http://www.spearman.org/windmillhistory.html

6) Money:

Migrant workers send many billions of dollars home via wire
services of various names, provide a tax exempting charity
up to 10% that can receive international over sight to avoid
the blatant corruption that is present in the mexican government,
or in fact with most governments of the world today.

If workers families donate labor, materials, or measurable
assistance to the effort apply the exemption to it as well
on their earnings.

As this needs to be ramped up quickly, let them roll this exemption
out over several years, ie. doing 50% now, but spending the
exemption over 5 years when they go to work in the US or elsewhere.

Money could be acquired thru other avenues, but to be honest,
those who should care most for these ppl are those who make it
to the US and work hard and earn enough to send back billions
each year.

In the US we pay SSI and taxes in to care for those who cannot
care for themselves, to a degree.

Like Abe Lincoln said, a hand up, not a hand out, and another
famous man once said "give a man a fish and he eats today,
teach a man to fish and he eats for life".

There are surely many more needs for ppl in a make shift survival
camp on the hot mexican border, but these are the ones that came
to my mind in short order. If you can think of any critcal
flaws feel free to e-mail me @ duanenavarre @ yahoo . com.

Thanks,
Duane Navarre