In order to attract and retain skilled physicians at the new Butaro Hospital, the Daniel E. Ponton Fund at BWH has partnered with Partners In Health / Inshuti Mu Buzima, MASS Design Group, and the Government of Rwanda to initiate a unique project to develop housing for doctors. Construction is underway and will achieve not just housing, but also job creation and training in sustainable building, whose model can inform building projects in Rwanda and beyond.

A prototype duplex is under construction to test using Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEBs), a brick produced on-site with dirt excavated on-site. The process will train and employ over a hundred members of the community. This sets a precedent for progressive and sustainable design and construction, minimizing the use of concrete and creating bricks that do not need to be fired, decreasing negative environmental impacts of building that lead to pollution and deforestation.