This funding is nowhere near the level needed to cover the problems that exist. As a result of this overwhelming gap between need and the capacity to meet it, organizations are doing everything possible to stretch the resources they have. This is especially true in the area of housing. Stretching money for housing means the building of houses that are less and less dignified, and building houses that are more solid means that more people are left without shelter. AFSC s counterparts have opted for a variety of models that are earthquake-resistant and fall under the concept of progressive housing, where structures are built in a way that offer at least a minimum of shelter and allow families to continue improving the house as they get the resources to do so.
Different organizations complete more of the building than others, based on their priorities.
All of these construction models and methods are accompanied by the training of the community members in construction techniques, although the construction itself still requires the supervision of a qualified engineer. This is a difficult task given the fact that the crumbling of adobe houses throughout El Salvador in the earthquakes has given them the reputation of being extremely unsafe. The fact that an adobe model built by UNES in 1997 in a rural community was the only house to survive unscathed in that village has helped only a little in attempts to convince rural dwellers of the myriad of benefits of this ecologically sound structure. A loud howl had pierced the morning, startling him and his children who were playing outside. No Daddy, it came from beneath the earth, replied the boy.