Hungarian built bamboo chapels saved lives in Ecuador

Photo: www.facebook.com/ARCOLF

Hungary reopened its embassy in Ecuador in 2015 and Lilla Kántor, who is a Hungarian architect from the city of Veszprém (Veszprém County), applied for a position on the embassy and got the chance to visit Ecuador along with his husband, Áron, who is also a Hungarian architect.

Sokszínű Vidék reported their incredible story about how they helped the South-American country’s people. Not so long after they moved to the country a terribly strong earthquake happened on the shores of Ecuador on the 16^th April 2016.

Fortunately, Lilla and Áron did not get hurt because the place they stayed at (Quito) was far away from the beach. On the other hand, many towns and villages were destroyed on the shore and many families lost their homes.

In the next few months, Lilla and Áron spent a lot of time on figuring out how to help those people who did not have a place to sleep. After a while, they got a huge offer out of nowhere: an enormous amount of bamboo…

The married couple did not hesitate and decided to build chapels from bamboo. They knew that chapels are important for people because Ecuador is almost 100% a Catholic country and the chapel is where people can meet with each other along with power and faith.

Photo: www.facebook.com/ARCOLF

They were not alone because their Italian and Ecuador friends joined them to build these chapels together. First, the set up a scale-model and in November of 2016, they travelled to Jama (a city in Ecuador) to present it to the local priest, sisters and community.

The communities in Ecuador were enthusiastic about the plan and in January of 2017 constructions began with the help of local architects and residents.

“This trip to Ecuador and setting up these bamboo chapels and our plan gave us a life-long experience and friendship.” – said Lilla Kántor who since then returned to Hungary with her husband.