How I'm making bricks out of ashes and rubble in Gaza

Majd Mashharawi was walking through her war-torn neighborhood in Gaza when an idea flashed in her mind: What if she could take the rubble and transform it into building materials? See how she designed a brick made out of ashes that's helping people rebuild their homes -- and learn about her new project: bringing solar-powered energy to families living in darkness.

Yes, it's dark.

I'm wondering how long
we can all stand it

without picking up our phone
and turning the flashlights on.

Seconds?

Minutes?

A whole hour?

Don't worry, I'm not going to give you
my whole speech in the dark.

But it's something I'm used to.

For more than 10 years,
I and two million people back home

have been living in darkness,

locked between two borders

that are nearly impossible
to leave, literally,

in an area that spans 25 miles long
and about five miles wide.

I am Palestinian, and I am from Gaza.

I grew up there and I still live there.

In Gaza, we have a whole lot of nothing.

And I aim to create something
from that nothing.

When a community is cut off
from the world,

all that we need to do is ... what?

To think outside the box.

Way outside the box.

That thinking led me to two projects

to address two serious issues
in my community.

The need for building materials
and the need for electricity and energy.

Two essential ingredients of life.

Both are in lack of supply in Gaza.

First, I'm not here ...

just to talk about the occupation
we have back home.

The siege, the wars,
the bombs, the protests

or the death toll.

I am here because I wanted to show
that we can live through it all.

I am here because I wanted
to make a change.

I am here to tell you

that I am a statistic
that cannot be ignored.

In the 2014 war, thousands
of houses were destroyed.

Those houses were made
from sunbaked stones and blocks.

Those houses stood
for decades and decades.

Those houses were
for my family, friends, neighbors,

everyone I know.

At that time, I asked myself a question:

What can I do for people?

How can I help them?

I knew we weren't able
to get cement, aggregate and sand

to rebuild what the war destroyed.

But also, maybe we can use something
from inside the community,

something we already had.

I started to put things together.

First, paper as a filler,
instead of the aggregate we import.

But that did not work out.

What about using glass powder
to replace part of the cement?

But that failed, too.

I guessed making building blocks
out of mud would be a great idea.

But unfortunately, it didn't work out.

During the process
of burning the mud blocks,

we had a huge amount of ashes.

And I was like, "Why don't we
use those ashes?"

The idea flashed in my mind.

"Let's use it and combine it
with the rubble of the demolished houses

and make building blocks out of it."

After more than 150 failed experiments,

and over six months of research,

I actually made it.

(Applause)

I created a building block

out of the ashes and rubble
of the demolished houses.

It's here, it came all the way with me.

Well, it came before me.

So, it's lighter,

it's cheaper, and it's stronger.

(Applause)

This building block --

of course, you ask yourself,
"How did this girl do it?"

It's not that hard,
and it's not that easy.

First, we collected rubble
from all around the Gaza Strip.

Then we combined it with the ashes
that came from the landfills.

When the recipe is done,
it's time for baking.

So we mold the blocks,
as you can see in the photo,

and we cure it using water steam.

I call the material "Green Cake,"

and people now can use it
not only to rebuild old houses,

but also to build new complete structures.

Green Cake so far has created
jobs for more than 30 people.

And we were able to rebuild
around 50 apartments,

each one of them the size
of a household almost for eight people.

We also trained fresh graduates,
female and male,

which is not very common in the community.

And we got several awards,
locally and globally.

This block is not
just only a building block.

It changed the stereotype
about women in Gaza

that stated this type of work
is meant for men.

Education is the strongest weapon we have

to fight for our freedom,
decent life and future.

My background helped me to do this block.

I went to the Islamic University of Gaza,
and I studied civil engineering,

where there was a one-to-six
female-to-male ratio.

Everyone told me
I would end up without a job.

I went for a major that's meant for men.

But their lack of encouragement
did not deter me; it inspired me.

(Applause)

After this long journey with the block,
and after two years,

what Gaza does need
is not just building blocks.

We also need electricity,
we need the energy.

I developed a new company called SunBox.

SunBox is a smart solar kit
that we source from China,

and we engineer it to fit the market need.

It powers not only light,
but also laptops, phones,

internet connection, a fan or a TV.

We teach local vendors and technicians

to sell, install and provide
customer services for people.

We got the project off the ground

by providing 15 families
with solar energy.

One of the solar units
we installed in a refugee camp.

The next day I came to check
what happened with the solar,

and I found a whole neighborhood
watching a football match

using our device.

I was like, "Wow, that's going to create
a huge impact in the community."

That encouraged us to go
to the second round

of bringing 200 units.

But each unit costs around 350 dollars.

And a Palestinian family
can't afford the 350 dollars.

So we had to think, again,
outside the box:

How can we make this happen?

If a whole neighborhood can watch
a football match using one device,

it means two, three and four families
can share one device

and enjoy the electricity.

What we did is, we created
a new business model

called "sharing is caring."

(Laughter)

The sharing is caring business model

says two families share one unit,
three families share one unit,

and they split the cost,
so they can afford paying for it.

Well, the idea caught on.

I didn't expect that,
but it just happened.

In less than two weeks,

we were able to provide
over 200 people with electricity.

(Applause)

And the question here:
How did the idea catch on?

We went to community centers --

those are places, you know for whom?

Only for men.

So it was so weird
for a woman to go there.

And I told them, "We have a great idea.

We will give you electricity,

you give us people
who need this electricity."

Now, families are approaching us
from all around the Gaza Strip.

I received a phone call
from the team this morning, saying,

"Majd, please, we are under pressure,
we work 16 hours a day,

we will not be able to work like this.

Families are calling us every second.
They want solar energy."

Muna, from one of the families
we installed the solar unit for,

she told me, "You know, Majd,

I've never imagined I will control
something in my life.

Now I can control my source of energy.

I feel so special."

What you take for granted
is a privilege for others.

People like Muna.

She doesn't want to fight.

She doesn't want to stay in a bad life.

She's only looking for a better life.

Our vision, or I would say,
everyone's vision in Gaza --

which I am very privileged
to represent the people back home --

is to have a good life, a future.

We need to build
the infrastructure of hope.

We want to tell them
it's possible to happen,

it's possible to be treated
as a human being.

I don't have to cross
four borders to come here.

I can just go to the airport,

see the people outside,

see what the world looks like.

Thank you so much.

(Applause)