Surrrrr-skreeek, whirr-skreek. Ka-thunk. Brown blocks appear in the middle of the bat. Engineers developed this machine, a mobile brick factory, to help rebuild a country.
The war in Ukraine has devastated homes, hospitals and schools. Nic Matich and Blake Stacey watched from Australia as parts of Ukraine collapsed. They wanted to use their talents to help those who have lost their homes.
The couple founded Mobile Crisis Construction (MCC). The company aims to “rapidly rebuild durable infrastructure” – essential services – in war-ravaged areas.
MCC's breakthrough is a mobile block making facility. These moving factories arrive in 20-foot shipping containers. You can produce building materials in a fraction of the usual time.
The factories produce LEGO-style blocks, or “LayGos,” from demolished bricks, wood, glass, plastic, etc. Unfortunately, in war-torn areas like Ukraine, there is plenty of rubble available for this purpose.
“It's an emotional thing for [Ukrainians] “I’m sorting through their rubble,” Stacey says in a video on MCC’s YouTube channel. “But it’s also a great emotional thing use It.”
The comparison to LEGO bricks is apt. LayGos have “bumps” or studs that allow the bricks to be firmly connected without mortar. They can be moved quickly without highly skilled workers.
On site, an MCC stone factory only needs a generator for power and a hammer mill to crush rubble. Workers mix cement and water and pour the mixture into the stone machine.
In seven days, the concrete hardens enough that the blocks can be used for construction. Holes in the new bricks allow steel rebar to be added for additional strength. MCC blocks ensure earthquake, fire and cyclone resistant walls. Workers add floors, pipes, roofs and cables to complete the building.
A fully functional MCC factory can produce 8,000 blocks in about eight hours. According to MCC, this number is enough to build three large houses, a school or a hospital in a single week. One day, the blocks could also help at natural disaster sites.
Manfred Hin works in the MCC team. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, “I saw this old lady sitting in front of her completely destroyed house, and it touched my heart,” he remembers. “I said, 'Look, I can help this woman.'” Hin is a construction worker by trade, has a visa for Ukraine and helps on site there.
The situation is “shocking,” complains Hin. He grew up in post-war Germany and knows the destruction first hand. “Just pray for Ukraine,” Hin pleads in an MCC video. “Don’t forget Ukraine.”
Stacey agrees, adding: “It’s a labor of love.”
Beloved, let us love one another. — 1 John 4:7
Why? God gives everyone the gift of helping others in some way, whether it is working locally or praying from a distance.