ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Peter Haas - Building activist
Inveterate tinkerer Peter Haas is the co-founder of AIDG, the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, which connect people to electricity, sanitation and clean water through a combination of business incubation, education, and outreach.

Why you should listen

In 2005, Peter Haas co-founded AIDG -- the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group -- an organization helping individuals and communities get affordable and environmentally sound access to electricity, sanitation and clean water through a combination of business incubation, education, and outreach. (Also on the board: TED Best-of-the-Web star Cat Laine.) Since co-founding AIDG, Haas has become an active voice for poverty issues, speaking at the World Bank, Harvard, MIT and other forums on technology, entrepreneurship and SME finance. He was named a TEDGlobal Fellow in 2009 and is now part of the three-year TED Senior Fellows program.

Before founding AIDG, Haas worked both in the information technology field and on an organic farm and horse ranch doing infrastructure improvement work. He tinkers in water systems, electrical systems, electronic systems, masonry, plumbing, biogas, irrigation, welding, metal casting and sustainable building.

More profile about the speaker
Peter Haas | Speaker | TED.com
TED Senior Fellows at TEDGlobal 2010

Peter Haas: When bad engineering makes a natural disaster even worse

Peter Haas: Katastrofa inxhinierike e Haitit.

Filmed:
370,231 views

"Haiti nuk ishte nje katastrofe natyrale" tregon partneri i TED Peter Haas: "Ishte nje katastrofe inxhinierike." Ndersa vendi rindertohet pas termetit vdekjeprures te Janarit, mos valle praktikat e vjetra te ndertimit po krijojne nje tjeter bombe te kurdisur? Grupi i Haas, AIDG, po ndihmon ndertuesit e Haitit te mesojne praktika inxhinierike moderne mbi ndertimin, per te ndertuar nje shtet te forte tulle per tulle.
- Building activist
Inveterate tinkerer Peter Haas is the co-founder of AIDG, the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, which connect people to electricity, sanitation and clean water through a combination of business incubation, education, and outreach. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
I learned about the Haiti earthquake by Skype.
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U informova mbi termetin ne Haiti ndermjet Skype.
00:19
My wife sent me a message,
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Bashkeshortja ime me dergoi nje mezash,
00:22
"Whoa, earthquake,"
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"Uou, termet,"
00:24
and then disappeared for 25 minutes.
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dhe pastaj u zhduk per 25 minuta.
00:28
It was 25 minutes of absolute terror
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Ishin 25 minuta terrori
00:31
that thousands of people across the U.S. felt.
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qe mijera njerez ne Sh.B.A ndjene.
00:36
I was afraid of a tsunami;
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Kisha frike mos ndodhte cunami;
00:39
what I didn't realize
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ajo cka nuk mendova
00:41
was there was a greater terror in Haiti,
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ishte se kishte nje tjeter terror me te madh ne Haiti,
00:44
and that was building collapse.
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dhe kjo ishte shembja e ndertesave.
00:47
We've all seen the photos
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Te gjithe i kemi pare fotografite
00:49
of the collapsed buildings in Haiti.
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te ndertesave te prishura ne Haiti.
00:52
These are shots my wife took
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Keto jane pamje qe ka fotografuar bashkeshkortja ime
00:54
a couple days after the quake,
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disa dite pas termetit,
00:56
while I was making my way through the D.R. into the country.
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ndersa une isha duke vajtur ne D.R ne vend.
01:00
This is the national palace --
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Ky eshte pallati kombetar --
01:02
the equivalent of the White House.
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ekuivalenti i Shtepise se Bardhe,
01:05
This is the largest supermarket in the Caribbean
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Ky eshte supermarketi me i madh ne Karaibe
01:08
at peak shopping time.
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ne kulmin e pazarit.
01:13
This is a nurses' college --
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Ky eshte nje kolegj per infermieri
01:15
there are 300 nurses studying.
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jane 300 infermiere qe studiojne.
01:19
The general hospital right next door
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Spital qendror ngjitur
01:21
emerged largely unscathed.
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qe shfaqet kryesisht i pademtuar.
01:24
This is the Ministry of Economics and Finance.
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Kjo eshte Ministria e Ekonomise dhe Financave.
01:30
We have all heard
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Te gjithe kemi degjuar
01:32
about the tremendous human loss
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mbi humbjen e madhe njerezore
01:35
in the earthquake in Haiti,
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ne termetin e Haitit,
01:37
but we haven't heard enough
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por nuk kemi degjuar mjaftueshem
01:40
about why all those lives were lost.
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se pse humben kaq shume jete.
01:43
We haven't heard about
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Nuk kemi degjuar
01:45
why the buildings failed.
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se pse deshtuan ndertesat.
01:48
After all, it was the buildings,
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Ne fund te fundit ishin ndertesat,
01:50
not the earthquake,
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dhe jo termeti,
01:52
that killed 220,000 people,
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qe vrane 220.000 njerez
01:55
that injured 330,000,
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qe plagosen 330.000
01:58
that displaced 1.3 million people,
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qe zhvendosen 1.3 milion njerez,
02:04
that cut off food
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qe prene ushqimin
02:06
and water and supplies
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ujin dhe furnizimet
02:08
for an entire nation.
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per nje komb te tere.
02:11
This is the largest metropolitan-area disaster
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Kjo eshte katastrofa me e madhe ne nje zone metropolitane
02:16
in decades,
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per dekada,
02:19
and it was not a natural disaster --
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dhe nuk ishte nje katastrofe natyrale --
02:22
it was a disaster of engineering.
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ishte nje katastrofe e inxhinierise.
02:25
AIDG has worked in Haiti
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AIDG po punon ne Haiti
02:27
since 2007,
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qe prej 2007,
02:29
providing engineering and business support
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duke i siguruar mbeshtetje inxhinierike dhe biznesi
02:31
to small businesses.
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ne bizneset e vogla.
02:33
And after the quake, we started bringing in earthquake engineers
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Dhe pas termetit, filluam te sjellim inxhiniera mbi termete
02:37
to figure out why the buildings collapsed,
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per te zbuluar se pse shembeshin ndertesat,
02:39
to examine what was safe and what wasn't.
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per te ekzaminuar cfare eshte e sigurte dhe cfare jo.
02:42
Working with MINUSTAH,
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Duke punuar me MINUSTAH,
02:45
which is the U.N. mission in Haiti,
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i cili eshte misioni i K.B ne Haiti,
02:47
with the Ministry of Public Works,
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me Ministrine e Puneve Publike,
02:49
with different NGOs,
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me OJQ te ndryshme,
02:51
we inspected over 1,500 buildings.
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inspektuam perreth 1.500 ndertesa.
02:55
We inspected schools
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Inspektuam shkolla
02:57
and private residencies.
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dhe rezidenca private.
02:59
We inspected medical centers
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Inspektuam qendra mjekesore
03:01
and food warehouses.
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si dhe magazina ushqimi.
03:03
We inspected government buildings.
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Inspektuam ndertesa qeveritare.
03:05
This is the Ministry of Justice.
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Kjo eshte Ministria e Drejtesise.
03:07
Behind that door
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Pas asaj dere
03:09
is the National Judicial Archives.
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ndodhet Arkiva Gjyqesore Kombetare.
03:12
The fellow in the door, Andre Filitrault --
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Personi tek dera, Andre Filitrault--
03:14
who's the director
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i cili eshte drejtori
03:16
of the Center for Interdisciplinary Earthquake Engineering Research
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i Qendres se Kerkimeve Nderdisiplinore per Inxhinierine e Termeteve
03:20
at the University of Buffalo --
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ne Universitetin e Bufalos --
03:23
was examining it to see if it was safe
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po e ekzaminonte ate per te pare nese ishte e sigurte
03:25
to recover the archives.
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per te rikuperuar arkivat.
03:27
Andre told me,
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Andre me tha,
03:29
after seeing these buildings fail
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pasi kemi pare keto ndertesa te deshtojne
03:31
again and again in the same way,
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perseri dhe perseri ne te njejten menyre,
03:34
that there is no new research here.
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se ketu nuk ka kerkime.
03:37
There is nothing here that we don't know.
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Nuk ka asgje ketu qe ne nuk e dime.
03:40
The failure points were the same:
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Pikat e deshtimit ishin te njejta:
03:43
walls and slabs not tied properly into columns --
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muret dhe traret nuk ishin te lidhura ne menyren e duhur me kollonat--
03:46
that's a roof slab hanging off the building --
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ky eshte nje tra catie qe varet jashte nderteses--
03:51
cantilevered structures,
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struktura te konsole,
03:53
or structures that were asymmetric,
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ose struktura asimetrike,
03:55
that shook violently and came down,
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qe tronditeshin ashper dhe binin,
03:59
poor building materials,
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materiale ndertimi te varfra,
04:01
not enough concrete,
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me beton te pamjaftueshem,
04:03
not enough compression in the blocks,
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me pak ngjeshje neper blloqe,
04:07
rebar that was smooth,
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armatura te buta,
04:09
rebar that was exposed to the weather and had rusted away.
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armatura te cilat ishin te ekspozuara ndaj kohes dhe ishin ndryshkur.
04:12
Now there's a solution
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Dhe ka nje zgjidhje
04:15
to all these problems.
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per te gjitha keto probleme.
04:17
And we know how to build properly.
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Dhe ne dime si te ndertojme sic duhet.
04:20
The proof of this came in Chile,
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Kjo u provua ne Kili,
04:23
almost a month later,
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pak a shume nje muaj me vone,
04:26
when 8.8 magnitude earthquake
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kur nje termet me magnitute 8.8
04:30
hit Chile.
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ndodhi ne Kili.
04:32
That is 500 times
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Ajo eshte 500 here me shume
04:34
the power of the 7.0
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se fuqia e 7.0
04:36
that hit Port-au-Prince --
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qe ndodhi ne Port-au-Prince--
04:39
500 times the power,
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500 here me fuqi me te madhe,
04:41
yet only under a thousand casualties.
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por me vetem nen nje mije viktima.
04:46
Adjusted for population density,
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E pershtatur per dendesine e popullsise,
04:48
that is less than one percent
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qe eshte me pak se nje perqind
04:50
of the impact of the Haitian quake.
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te impaktit qe pati termeti i Haitit.
04:54
What was the difference
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Cila ishte diferenca
04:56
between Chile and Haiti?
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midis Kilit dhe Haitit?
04:59
Seismic standards
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Standarte sizmike
05:01
and confined masonry,
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dhe murature te izoluar,
05:04
where the building acts as a whole --
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ku ndertesat funksionojne si nje e tere--
05:06
walls and columns
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muret dhe kolonat
05:08
and roofs and slabs
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catite dhe pllakat
05:10
tied together to support each other --
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lidhenin bashke per te suportuar njera tjetren--
05:13
instead of breaking off into separate members and failing.
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ne vend qe te ndaheshin ne pjese dhe te rrezoheshin.
05:18
If you look at this building in Chile,
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Nese mund te shihni kete ndertesen ne Kili,
05:21
it's ripped in half,
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eshte e ndare ne mes,
05:23
but it's not a pile of rubble.
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por nuk eshte nje grumbull rrenojash.
05:27
Chileans have been building with confined masonry
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Kilianet kane ndertuar me murature te izoluar
05:29
for decades.
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per dekada.
05:32
Right now, AIDG is working with KPFF Consulting Engineers,
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Momentalisht, AIDG eshte duke punuar me Inxhinierat Konsultues te KPFF,
05:36
Architecture for Humanity,
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Arkitekture per Humanitetin,
05:38
to bring more confined masonry training
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per te nxitur trajnimin mbi muraturen e izoluar
05:41
into Haiti.
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ne Haiti.
05:45
This is Xantus Daniel;
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Ky eshte Xantus Daniel;
05:47
he's a mason,
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ai eshte nje murator,
05:49
just a general construction worker, not a foreman,
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nje punetor i thjesht ndertimi, jo pergjegjes,
05:52
who took one of our trainings.
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i cili ndoqi nje nga trajnimet tona.
05:54
On his last job he was working with his boss,
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Ne punen e tij te fundit ishte duke punuar me shefin e tij,
05:57
and they started pouring the columns wrong.
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ku ata filluan te benin derdhjen e kollonave gabim.
06:00
He took his boss aside,
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Ai e mori shefin e tij vecmas,
06:02
and he showed him the materials on confined masonry.
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dhe i tregoi materialet mbi muraturen e izoluar.
06:05
He showed him, "You know, we don't have to do this wrong.
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Ai i tregoi, "Nuk kemi pse e bejme kete gabim.
06:08
It won't cost us any more
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Nuk do na kushtoj me shume
06:10
to do it the right way."
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per ta bere ne menyren e duhur."
06:13
And they redid that building.
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Dhe ata e ribene ate ndertese.
06:15
They tied the rebar right,
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E lidhen armaturen ne menyren e duhur,
06:17
they poured the columns right,
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e bene derdhjen e kollonave ne menyren e duhur,
06:19
and that building will be safe.
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dhe ajo ndertese ishte e sigurte.
06:21
And every building
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Dhe cdo ndertese
06:23
that they build going forward
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qe do ndertojne ne vazhdim
06:25
will be safe.
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do jete e sigurte.
06:28
To make sure these buildings are safe,
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Per tu siguruar qe keto ndertesa jane te sigurta,
06:30
it's not going to take policy --
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nuk do duhet politike--
06:33
it's going to take reaching out
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Do duhet te arrijme
06:35
to the masons on the ground
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te ulim muratoret ne toke
06:38
and helping them learn the proper techniques.
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dhe ti ndihmojme te mesojne teknikat e duhura.
06:43
Now there are many groups doing this.
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Ekzistojne shume grupe qe e bejne kete.
06:45
And the fellow in the vest there,
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Dhe ky personi me jelek,
06:47
Craig Toten,
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Craig Toten,
06:49
he has pushed forward
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ai e ka shtyre perpara
06:51
to get documentation out to all the groups that are doing this.
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per te dorezuar dokumentacionin neper grupe qe e bejne kete.
06:55
Through Haiti Rewired,
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Permes Haitit te Instalimeve te reja elektrike
06:57
through Build Change, Architecture for Humanity,
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permes Ndryshimit te Ndertimit, Arkitektures dhe Humanitetit,
07:00
AIDG,
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AIDG,
07:02
there is the possibility
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ekziston mundesia
07:04
to reach out
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per te arritur
07:07
to 30,000 -- 40,000 masons
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30.000 -- 40.000 muratore
07:10
across the country
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neper gjithe shtetin
07:12
and create a movement of proper building.
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dhe te krijojme nje levizje per ndertimin e duhur.
07:17
If you reach out to the people on the ground
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Nese arrini tek njerezit ne terren
07:19
in this collaborative way
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ne kete menyre bashkepunimi
07:21
it's extremely affordable.
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eshte shume e perballueshme.
07:24
For the billions spent on reconstruction,
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Per miliardat qe shpenzohen ne rikonstruksion,
07:28
you can train masons
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mund te trajnoni muratore
07:30
for dollars on every house
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per disa dollare ne cdo shtepi
07:32
that they end up building over their lifetime.
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qe ata perfundojne te ndertojne gjate jetes tyre.
07:37
Ultimately, there are two ways
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Perfundimisht, ka dy menyra
07:39
that you can rebuild Haiti;
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per te rindertuar Haitin;
07:41
the way at the top
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menyra ketu siper
07:43
is the way that Haiti's been building for decades.
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eshte menyra qe Haiti po nderton per dekada.
07:46
The way at the top
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Menyra ketu siper
07:48
is a poorly constructed building
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eshte nje ndertese e ndertuar dobet
07:50
that will fail.
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qe do shkatarrohet.
07:52
The way at the bottom is a confined masonry building,
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Menyra ketu poshte eshte ndertimi me murature te izoluar,
07:55
where the walls are tied together,
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ku muret jane te lidhura bashke,
07:57
the building is symmetric,
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ndertesa eshte simetrike,
07:59
and it will stand up to an earthquake.
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dhe do t'i mbijetoje termetit,
08:02
For all the disaster,
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Per te gjithe katastrofen,
08:04
there is an opportunity here
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ekziston nje mundesi ketu
08:07
to build better houses
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per te ndertuar shtepi me te mira
08:09
for the next generation,
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per gjeneraten e ardhshme,
08:11
so that when the next earthquake hits,
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ne menyre qe kur termeti i rradhes te godase,
08:14
it is a disaster --
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eshte nje katastrofe--
08:16
but not a tragedy.
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por jo tragjedi.
08:19
(Applause)
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(Duartrokitje)
Translated by Alisa Xholi
Reviewed by Helena Bedalli

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Peter Haas - Building activist
Inveterate tinkerer Peter Haas is the co-founder of AIDG, the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group, which connect people to electricity, sanitation and clean water through a combination of business incubation, education, and outreach.

Why you should listen

In 2005, Peter Haas co-founded AIDG -- the Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group -- an organization helping individuals and communities get affordable and environmentally sound access to electricity, sanitation and clean water through a combination of business incubation, education, and outreach. (Also on the board: TED Best-of-the-Web star Cat Laine.) Since co-founding AIDG, Haas has become an active voice for poverty issues, speaking at the World Bank, Harvard, MIT and other forums on technology, entrepreneurship and SME finance. He was named a TEDGlobal Fellow in 2009 and is now part of the three-year TED Senior Fellows program.

Before founding AIDG, Haas worked both in the information technology field and on an organic farm and horse ranch doing infrastructure improvement work. He tinkers in water systems, electrical systems, electronic systems, masonry, plumbing, biogas, irrigation, welding, metal casting and sustainable building.

More profile about the speaker
Peter Haas | Speaker | TED.com