Building blocks made of ashes - helping Gaza be rebuilt

GreenCake bricks are environmentally-friendly building blocks that are of high quality and yet low in cost. We aim to develop the blocks further, in order to improve their specifications, so we can start a production line in Gaza to help rebuild the houses that have been destroyed during the three wars! - Majd Ismail Mashharawi

1. I am truly impressed by you and your determination to bring this idea to life. Can you tell us more about yourself? How did you get interested in engineering?

Ever since I was a kid, I have felt that I am different and I have always known that I am here to do something meaningful, something that could have a positive impact on other people’ lives and make the world a better place. So I studied hard in order to be one of the best students and as a result I completed the secondary school with excellent GPA. At that time, my parents wanted me to study medicine but I, on the other hand, was more interested in physics and mathematics and made the decision to study engineering. Of course, I had my doubts but after an year, I figured out that this is what I have been looking for since I was born! I was curious about understanding engineering in a creative way and I was and still am very passionate about it.

2. How did you come up with this idea? Can you tell us a little bit more about the production process?

The bricks are made of ashes, something unique and completely different from the traditional ones. GreenCake is a result of one of the problems that people of Gaza have faced. My friend Rawan and I were thinking of starting new competitive project that could solve one of the major problems in Gaza which is shortage of building materials. So we did a research aiming to find out how we could come up with a solution for this problem. Papercrete was the first step followed by clay bricks and leading to GreenCake ash blocks.

3. How long have you known Rawan and how did you decide to work on this together?

We were colleagues at the University but we got really close in 2013, at that time we discovered that we both have the same life goals.

4. What was the first thing you did in order to get things going and to receive some support?

We attended a start-up event called Mobaderoon III and there we presented our idea in details. It was great that the people there encouraged and supported us to apply for the next stage of the event. But the most memorable part of this experience was when they chose us to be part of the 20 final teams. We were able to gain new knowledge and had numerous meetings with experts in different professional areas, which helped us a lot and gave us a clearer vision on how to manage our project. However, luck is not always on your side. We received a lot of empty promises from different associations and we were left with high hopes for nothing, at the end.

5. How did your teachers, friends, family react? Have you faced a lot of rejection?

Our families have been the biggest support for both of us – financially and mentally. Of course, out friends have been there for us, as well, they have supported us at every stage of our journey, while the community strongly rejected our idea and us especially at the very beginning mainly because we are women working in professional fields mostly dominated by men. We received a lot of rejection from teachers, as well, but over time the things started to get better. It took us more than 10 months of experimenting until we finally reached the minimum required level of block strength approved by the authorities.

6. What were the biggest challenges you’ve faced on your way so far? Was there a moment you were ready to give up and what kept you motivated, despite all the difficulties?

The biggest challenge for us, me and Rawan, was to convince the people that out idea is good and will bring value to the others. It wasn’t easy since Gaza is a closed community considered to be one of the most dangerous places in the world and even more - it has limited resources. Apart from that, one of the hardest moments, personally for me, was when Rawan got married and I was left alone. At that time I had many problems especially with ash suppliers and on the top of that many people asked me to pay their debts, but I was broke, newly graduated and without a job. I started losing any hope and then in June I made the decision to stop working on my project and start looking for a job. But then at the beginning of August 2016 my friend Miki advised me to apply for Japan Gaza Innovation challenge and I just decided to give it a try! This gave me new strengths to continue working on GreenCake. And the most amazing part is that I won the challenge. I had the pleasure to work with great professionals who gave me hope to continue and finish what I had started.

7. What is the next step for you? What are you planning on doing next?

Now I am in Japan for a training to develop the blocks - this is part of the challenge prize. The people here are very supportive and I am really happy to work with them and I'm beyond thankful seeing my dream coming to life step by step.