Majd Mashharawi: How I'm making bricks out of ashes and rubble in Gaza
مجد المشهراوي: كيف أصنع قوالب الطوب من الرماد والأنقاض في غزة
Majd Mashharawi leads a startup that makes bricks from recycled local materials -- and employs women in the Gaza Strip. Full bio
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we can all stand it
and turning the flashlights on.
my whole speech in the dark.
في هذا الظلام.
I and two million people back home
ظللت أنا ومليوني شخص آخر في بلدي
to leave, literally,
and about five miles wide.
وبعرض يصل إلى 5 أميال.
from that nothing.
from the world,
in my community.
and the need for electricity and energy.
والحاجة إلى الكهرباء والطاقة.
we have back home.
the bombs, the protests
القنابل، الاحتجاجات
that we can live through it all.
رغم كل ذلك.
to make a change.
that cannot be ignored.
of houses were destroyed.
from sunbaked stones and blocks.
for decades and decades.
for my family, friends, neighbors,
to get cement, aggregate and sand
على الأسمنت والزلط والرمال،
from inside the community,
أن نستخدم شيئًا متاحًا في مجتمعنا.
instead of the aggregate we import.
بدلًا من استخدام الزلط الذي نستورده.
to replace part of the cement?
out of mud would be a great idea.
ستكون فكرة جيدة.
of burning the mud blocks,
use those ashes?"
with the rubble of the demolished houses
ونمزجه بأنقاض المنازل المهدمة.
of the demolished houses.
"How did this girl do it?"
"كيف استطاعت هذه الفتاة فعل ذلك؟"
and it's not that easy.
from all around the Gaza Strip.
من كل أنحاء قطاع غزة.
that came from the landfills.
it's time for baking.
جاء وقت التشكيل.
as you can see in the photo,
كما ترون في الصورة.
not only to rebuild old houses,
على إعادة بناء المنازل القديمة فقط،
في بناء مباني جديدة بالكامل.
jobs for more than 30 people.
لأكثر من 30 شخص.
around 50 apartments,
of a household almost for eight people.
female and male,
ذكورًا وإناثًا،
locally and globally.
من الجوائز المحلية والعالمية.
just only a building block.
about women in Gaza
is meant for men.
decent life and future.
والحياة الكريمة ومن أجل المستقبل.
and I studied civil engineering,
في الجامعة الإسلامية بغزة،
female-to-male ratio.
هي 6 إلى 1.
I would end up without a job.
بلا وظيفة.
did not deter me; it inspired me.
بل ألهمني.
and after two years,
وبعد سنتين،
is not just building blocks.
we need the energy.
that we source from China,
نستورده من الصين،
but also laptops, phones,
يستخدم أيضًا للحواسيب المحمولة والهواتف
الكهربائية أو التلفاز.
customer services for people.
وتوفير الخدمة للعملاء.
with solar energy.
we installed in a refugee camp.
الطاقة الشمسية في مخيم اللاجئين.
what happened with the solar,
watching a football match
a huge impact in the community."
سيكون لهذا أثر واضح في مجتمعنا."
to the second round
can't afford the 350 dollars.
لا تستطيع تحمل 350 دولار
outside the box:
أن نفكر خارج الصندوق.
a football match using one device,
مباراة اعتمادًا على جهاز واحد،
can share one device
أو أربعة الاعتماد على جهاز واحد
a new business model
three families share one unit,
في جهاز واحد.
so they can afford paying for it.
حتى يتيسر لهم دفع ثمنه.
but it just happened.
over 200 people with electricity.
How did the idea catch on?
for a woman to go there.
الذين هم بحاجة إلى هذه الكهرباء.
who need this electricity."
from all around the Gaza Strip.
من جميع أنحاء قطاع غزة.
from the team this morning, saying,
من الفريق تقول:
إننا نشتغل 16 ساعة يوميًّا،
we work 16 hours a day,
They want solar energy."
أنهم بحاجة إلى الطاقة الشمسية."
we installed the solar unit for,
قمنا بتركيب جهاز طاقة شمسية لها،
something in my life.
التحكم بأي شيء في حياتي.
is a privilege for others.
هو بمثابة منحة وامتياز لآخرين.
everyone's vision in Gaza --
رؤية كل إنسان في غزة...
to represent the people back home --
وامتلاك مستقبل.
the infrastructure of hope.
it's possible to happen,
as a human being.
four borders to come here.
أربعة حدود لكي أصل إلى هنا.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Majd Mashharawi - Engineer, entrepreneurMajd Mashharawi leads a startup that makes bricks from recycled local materials -- and employs women in the Gaza Strip.
Why you should listen
A resident of war-torn Gaza, Majd Mashharawi observed the acute need for access to construction material in order to rebuild damaged buildings and infrastructure. She strove to meet this need by founding GreenCake in 2015, a company that creates environmentally friendly bricks from ash and rubble.
In the summer of 2017 she developed SunBox, an affordable solar device that produces energy to alleviate the effects of the energy crisis in Gaza, where access to electricity has been severely restricted, sometimes to less than three hours a day. With SunBox, she was able to provide electricity to hundreds of people; SunBox was awarded a prize in the annual MIT Pan Arab competition. She received her BSc in Civil Engineering from the Islamic University of Gaza. In 2018 she was selected as one of the most creative people in business by Fast Company.
Majd Mashharawi | Speaker | TED.com