BoxRec

Vincente Saldivar — A Mexican Legend


photo courtesy
David Martinez

By Jim Amato

The 1960’s spawned many great fighters. Dick Tiger, Jose Torres, Emile Griffith, Luis Rodriguiz and Carlos Ortiz just to name a few. One of the best of this era was a 5′ 3″ southpaw from Mexico City named Vincente Saldivar. He ruled the featherweight division for three years and then retired. He decided to come back and two and a half years after he gave up his crown, he re-claimed it.

This boxing legend was born on March 5, 1943. He started his professional career in 1961 and quickly showed that he was a budding star. Saldivar won his first sixteen fights and scored thirteen knockouts. He suffered his first loss in December of 1962 when he was disqualified in a bout against Baby Luis.

The year 1963 saw Saldivar make great strides in the rankings. He halted the respected Dwight Hawkins in five rounds. He avenged his loss by stopping Baby Luis in eight rounds. There was also an impressive one round win over Eloy Sanchez.

On February 8, 1964 Saldivar captured the Mexican featherweight title by knocking out Juan Rameriz in two rounds. He defended the title with a twelve round points win over tough Eduardo ” Lalo ” Guerrero. Then on June 1st Vincente won a very important bout against future lightweight champion Ismael Laguna. Saldivar outscored the clever Laguna in ten rounds.

On September 26, 1964 Vincente Saldivar won the featherweight championship of the world. He battered the great champion Sugar Ramos and the bout ended in the twelfth round with a new champion being crowned. Saldivar was about to begin a campaign that eliminated all opposition to his throne. He started in 1965 by wearing down and finally stopping his game challenger Raul Rojas in the final round. In his next defense Vincente turned back the fierce challenge of Welshman Howard Winstone in fifteen rounds. These two would get to know each other very well over the next few years.

Saldivar opened 1966 with a two round kayo over Floyd Robertson. Next Vincente faced the stern challenge of Japan’s Mitsunori Seki. For the Japanese tiger, it would be his third shot at a world’s title. He failed in a 1961 bid to dethrone flyweight champion Pone Kingpetch and in 1964 he was beaten in six rounds by featherweight king Sugar Ramos. Seki gave Saldivar all he could handle but in the Vincente pounded out a decision victory.

Seki and Saldivar would meet again in 1967 and this time Vincente left no doubt to his claim to the title ending Seki’s challenge in the seventh round. Next was some unfinished business with Mr. Winstone. Again the spry and crafty Welshman traveled the fifteen round distance but in the end he fell short. The two bouts between Saldivar and Winstone were close enough to justify a third meeting. This time Saldivar ruled supreme ending Winstone’s dream in the twelfth round.

With really no one left to seriously challenge Vincente, he decided to retire. Quickly the World Boxing Council matched Saldivar’s two toughest challengers, Howard Winstone and Mitsunori Seki for the vacant title. On January 23, 1968 Howard Winstone finally got his championship beating Seki in nine rounds. Howard’s stay at the top was short lived as he lost the title to Spain’s Jose Legra in five rounds.

Finally there was some new blood in the division. Legra in turn would lose his crown by decision to Australia’s Johnny Famechon. Saldivar still felt he was the best featherweight in the world so he embarked on a come back. To prove he was worthy of a title shot he out fought Legra to win a ten round verdict. Then on May 9, 1970 in Rome, Italy Vincente met the champion Famechon. The Aussie was a very good fighter who had just sent the great Fighting Harada into retirement with a brutal fourteenth round kayo. Against Saldivar he was out boxed and out fought but gamely went the distance. The great Saldivar was king again.

It all came crashing down in his next fight. Vincente took on Japan’s Kuniaki Shibata. It seemed like Vincente grew old overnight. At times he boxed well and punched sharply but at other times seemed overwhelmed by the force of Shibata’s attacks. The Japanese fighter was very strong and try as he might, Vincente was unable to hold him off. Finally it was over. It ended in the thirteenth round. The reign of Saldivar was over.

Maybe Vincente was not yet convinced he was through or maybe he wanted to go out a winner. Anyway Saldivar returned to the ring seven months later and outpointed the always tough Frankie Crawford. Then two years later Saldivar again emerged to attempt to regain his throne. Former bantamweight champion Eder Jofre of Brazil had won recognition by the W.B.C. as featherweight champion by winning a majority decision over Jose Legra in May of 1973. Vincente would meet Jofre on October 21, 1973 in Brazil. What looked to be a great match up on paper turned out to be a bitter disappointment. Saldivar had nothing left. His great skills had eroded. Jofre was too strong and too powerful for the shell of this once great fighting machine. It ended in the fourth round and so did Saldivar’s career. There would be no more comebacks.

Vincente only had forty fights in his career. He won thirty seven of them. He was a knockout winner on twenty six occasions. He was the whole package in his prime. Pound for pound he was one of the best fighters in the 60’s.

kikibalt wrote:Vincente Saldivar — A Mexican Legend


photo courtesy
David Martinez

By Jim Amato

The 1960’s spawned many great fighters. Dick Tiger, Jose Torres, Emile Griffith, Luis Rodriguiz and Carlos Ortiz just to name a few. One of the best of this era was a 5′ 3″ southpaw from Mexico City named Vincente Saldivar. He ruled the featherweight division for three years and then retired. He decided to come back and two and a half years after he gave up his crown, he re-claimed it.

This boxing legend was born on March 5, 1943. He started his professional career in 1961 and quickly showed that he was a budding star. Saldivar won his first sixteen fights and scored thirteen knockouts. He suffered his first loss in December of 1962 when he was disqualified in a bout against Baby Luis.

The year 1963 saw Saldivar make great strides in the rankings. He halted the respected Dwight Hawkins in five rounds. He avenged his loss by stopping Baby Luis in eight rounds. There was also an impressive one round win over Eloy Sanchez.

On February 8, 1964 Saldivar captured the Mexican featherweight title by knocking out Juan Rameriz in two rounds. He defended the title with a twelve round points win over tough Eduardo ” Lalo ” Guerrero. Then on June 1st Vincente won a very important bout against future lightweight champion Ismael Laguna. Saldivar outscored the clever Laguna in ten rounds.

On September 26, 1964 Vincente Saldivar won the featherweight championship of the world. He battered the great champion Sugar Ramos and the bout ended in the twelfth round with a new champion being crowned. Saldivar was about to begin a campaign that eliminated all opposition to his throne. He started in 1965 by wearing down and finally stopping his game challenger Raul Rojas in the final round. In his next defense Vincente turned back the fierce challenge of Welshman Howard Winstone in fifteen rounds. These two would get to know each other very well over the next few years.

Saldivar opened 1966 with a two round kayo over Floyd Robertson. Next Vincente faced the stern challenge of Japan’s Mitsunori Seki. For the Japanese tiger, it would be his third shot at a world’s title. He failed in a 1961 bid to dethrone flyweight champion Pone Kingpetch and in 1964 he was beaten in six rounds by featherweight king Sugar Ramos. Seki gave Saldivar all he could handle but in the Vincente pounded out a decision victory.

Seki and Saldivar would meet again in 1967 and this time Vincente left no doubt to his claim to the title ending Seki’s challenge in the seventh round. Next was some unfinished business with Mr. Winstone. Again the spry and crafty Welshman traveled the fifteen round distance but in the end he fell short. The two bouts between Saldivar and Winstone were close enough to justify a third meeting. This time Saldivar ruled supreme ending Winstone’s dream in the twelfth round.

With really no one left to seriously challenge Vincente, he decided to retire. Quickly the World Boxing Council matched Saldivar’s two toughest challengers, Howard Winstone and Mitsunori Seki for the vacant title. On January 23, 1968 Howard Winstone finally got his championship beating Seki in nine rounds. Howard’s stay at the top was short lived as he lost the title to Spain’s Jose Legra in five rounds.

Finally there was some new blood in the division. Legra in turn would lose his crown by decision to Australia’s Johnny Famechon. Saldivar still felt he was the best featherweight in the world so he embarked on a come back. To prove he was worthy of a title shot he out fought Legra to win a ten round verdict. Then on May 9, 1970 in Rome, Italy Vincente met the champion Famechon. The Aussie was a very good fighter who had just sent the great Fighting Harada into retirement with a brutal fourteenth round kayo. Against Saldivar he was out boxed and out fought but gamely went the distance. The great Saldivar was king again.

It all came crashing down in his next fight. Vincente took on Japan’s Kuniaki Shibata. It seemed like Vincente grew old overnight. At times he boxed well and punched sharply but at other times seemed overwhelmed by the force of Shibata’s attacks. The Japanese fighter was very strong and try as he might, Vincente was unable to hold him off. Finally it was over. It ended in the thirteenth round. The reign of Saldivar was over.

Maybe Vincente was not yet convinced he was through or maybe he wanted to go out a winner. Anyway Saldivar returned to the ring seven months later and outpointed the always tough Frankie Crawford. Then two years later Saldivar again emerged to attempt to regain his throne. Former bantamweight champion Eder Jofre of Brazil had won recognition by the W.B.C. as featherweight champion by winning a majority decision over Jose Legra in May of 1973. Vincente would meet Jofre on October 21, 1973 in Brazil. What looked to be a great match up on paper turned out to be a bitter disappointment. Saldivar had nothing left. His great skills had eroded. Jofre was too strong and too powerful for the shell of this once great fighting machine. It ended in the fourth round and so did Saldivar’s career. There would be no more comebacks.

Vincente only had forty fights in his career. He won thirty seven of them. He was a knockout winner on twenty six occasions. He was the whole package in his prime. Pound for pound he was one of the best fighters in the 60’s.

Saldivar is almost forgotten. I had the opportunity of watching him defeat Raul Rojas in his first defense of the World Featherweight title, at the L.A. Coliseum in 1965. On the undercard, my stablemate, a heavyweight Nat'l Golden Gloves champ, Jerry Quarry, made his pro debut. Saldivar and Rojas busted each other up pretty good, but it was Saldivar who retained his title, stopping Raul in the 15th round.

Vicente's last fight against Eder Jofre, took place in my wife Monica's hometown of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

At the recent WBHOF banquet, Raul Rojas took his place on the dias with the rest of the legends. A former world champ himself, Rojas was a helluva fighter in his day. I fought on the undercard of two his past prime losses, to my stablemate Ruben Navarro, and a few months later to his former stablemate, Mando Ramos. Seeing Raul recently was not a happy moment. Confined to his wheel chair and barely aware of his surroundings, Rojas' eyes would light up when a familiar face would approach him. His head was bandaged from some sort recent injury.

Sometimes the ride on the way down can be Hell. As for Saldivar, I know he liked to drink, and he passed away at a very young age (he was in his 40's).

-Rick Farris

Rick,

I have the Rojas/Saldivar fight, plus Rojas vs Shozo Saijo and vs Yoshiaki Numata

EL BOLERO

I looked down at my shoes the other day I saw scuff marks on the sides. I knew i'd be going to Tijuana for my new glasses so I decided to get my shoes polished down there. Once was a time when San Diego had shoe shine stands,but I really couldn't tell you where one is today. Maybe it's a demeaning job to some. I don't know,but like I said I couldn't you tell where a stand is in San Diego today.

TJ is different. Downtown there's a stand on every other corner. Kids with their shine boxes roam the streets and are on public buses hustling you for a shine. There's a guy on 2nd and Constitution where I go. I go there because not only is he carefull with your shoes,his friends come by and play the assortment of 6 string guitars he has propped up inside his stand. While the old guy is meticuosly putting the polish on, I'm being serenaded by some pretty good singers and musicians. They're older guys. They sing the romantic songs that are very popular with that generation. "El Epocha de ORo". The Golden Age. Today it was a compadre singing "Mil Noches." I remember the late Cornelio Reyna really did justice with that song. Thia old timer wasn't bad either. "Old Corny" would have been proud to hear him sing.

After a good buffing and the the toothbrush application of the black polish on the soles,the old guy and his accompianist looked at my shoes.
"Como nuevos,"exclaimed the old man.
"Si amigo,like new."
I tipped him a dollar. He made a little quick sign of the cross and put the money in his pocket. As I walked away the old man joined the guitar player in a duet . They were singing "Cielito Lindo." Even wth all the noise of the traffic,I could hear them singing "Cielito Lindo" as I turned the corner.

dagosd2000 wrote:EL BOLERO

I looked down at my shoes the other day I saw scuff marks on the sides. I knew i'd be going to Tijuana for my new glasses so I decided to get my shoes polished down there. Once was a time when San Diego had shoe shine stands,but I really couldn't tell you where one is today. Maybe it's a demeaning job to some. I don't know,but like I said I couldn't you tell where a stand is in San Diego today.

TJ is different. Downtown there's a stand on every other corner. Kids with their shine boxes roam the streets and are on public buses hustling you for a shine. There's a guy on 2nd and Constitution where I go. I go there because not only is he carefull with your shoes,his friends come by and play the assortment of 6 string guitars he has propped up inside his stand. While the old guy is meticuosly putting the polish on, I'm being serenaded by some pretty good singers and musicians. They're older guys. They sing the romantic songs that are very popular with that generation. "El Epocha de ORo". The Golden Age. Today it was a compadre singing "Mil Noches." I remember the late Cornelio Reyna really did justice with that song. Thia old timer wasn't bad either. "Old Corny" would have been proud to hear him sing.

After a good buffing and the the toothbrush application of the black polish on the soles,the old guy and his accompianist looked at my shoes.
"Como nuevos,"exclaimed the old man.
"Si amigo,like new."
I tipped him a dollar. He made a little quick sign of the cross and put the money in his pocket. As I walked away the old man joined the guitar player in a duet . They were singing "Cielito Lindo." Even wth all the noise of the traffic,I could hear them singing "Cielito Lindo" as I turned the corner.

Hey Rog, back in the 60's when I was a kid boxing in the Jr. GG's, I always wanted to fight wearing the same type trunks as the great Mexican boxers. Sometimes, Johnny Flores would go to TJ for a fight and he'd bring back some equipment. However, my grandfather and I would drive down and he'd take me to a sporting goods store where I was able to get exactly what I wanted. Maybe my memory is starting to slip, however, I believe the place was on a street called Revolution, and I think it was called "Viking Deportes" or something like that. I obviously don't know Tijuana like you, but does that sound familiar? I used to get these great Casanova trunks, and they were black velvet with red velvet stripes, like Saldivar and Pimentel wore. There were other Mexican brands as well, including "Seyer" (Which was the REYES brand spelled backwards), "Boxer" and a few others. I'd get the black leather extra high-top boxing boots, training gloves, head gear etc. I'd have my cup custom maid by Tony Marino or Teo Serrano at the Main Street Gym. Teo would a way of embossing the cups with your name or initials on the front, in red to contrast the black leather.

I idolized the Mexican greats and would study my espanol by trying to make sense of RING MUNDIAL, learning about the great Mexican bantams & featherweights. It's funny how kids think, but when I would have a Jr. GG's bout at the Teamsters Gym, I would pretend that I was actually fighting at the Olympic, against a Saldivar or Jose Medel, a couple of my idols. That was important to me when I was a kid. I wasn't just a kid passing time when I was in a boxing ring, it was serious business to me. I was very shy and quiet (not like today). Boxing was my refuge, my love and my passion, it kept a restless spirit out of trouble.

-Rick

kikibalt wrote:Rick,

I have the Rojas/Saldivar fight, plus Rojas vs Shozo Saijo and vs Yoshiaki Numata

What a great collection you have Frank. And by the way, Jeff Crawford was very moved when I surprised him with a copy of his dad's fight with Sho Saijyo. I made a copy for Jeff, and kept the original for myself. How kind of you to share those great fights with me. Bolanos and Williams!!!!! Whoa. I spend my holidays watching that DVD over and over.

Thank you, again!

-Rick

kikibalt wrote:Surprise


Frank Falcon, seen here talking to Connie is my son, I fathered Frank with another woman,
he and Bobby are one week apart...

That was some week, Frankie.

kikibalt wrote:
Undefeated Welsh world champion boxer Joe Calzaghe (2nd L) and his father Enzo (R) are pictured with his mother
Jackie (L) and his wife Jo-Emma, (2nd R) after Joe received his Commander of the British Empire (CBE) award for
services to sport and voluntary services in Wales, from Britian’s Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, in London,
on November 26, 2008. Photo by JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images)

It seems to be fashionable to 'knock' Calzaghe over here at the moment, because he beat two old men on the spin. He also whipped Lacy, Bika and Kessler in the space of 18 months. Nobody seems to mention those guys.

Rick Farris wrote:

kikibalt wrote:Vincente Saldivar — A Mexican Legend


photo courtesy
David Martinez

By Jim Amato

The 1960’s spawned many great fighters. Dick Tiger, Jose Torres, Emile Griffith, Luis Rodriguiz and Carlos Ortiz just to name a few. One of the best of this era was a 5′ 3″ southpaw from Mexico City named Vincente Saldivar. He ruled the featherweight division for three years and then retired. He decided to come back and two and a half years after he gave up his crown, he re-claimed it.

This boxing legend was born on March 5, 1943. He started his professional career in 1961 and quickly showed that he was a budding star. Saldivar won his first sixteen fights and scored thirteen knockouts. He suffered his first loss in December of 1962 when he was disqualified in a bout against Baby Luis.

The year 1963 saw Saldivar make great strides in the rankings. He halted the respected Dwight Hawkins in five rounds. He avenged his loss by stopping Baby Luis in eight rounds. There was also an impressive one round win over Eloy Sanchez.

On February 8, 1964 Saldivar captured the Mexican featherweight title by knocking out Juan Rameriz in two rounds. He defended the title with a twelve round points win over tough Eduardo ” Lalo ” Guerrero. Then on June 1st Vincente won a very important bout against future lightweight champion Ismael Laguna. Saldivar outscored the clever Laguna in ten rounds.

On September 26, 1964 Vincente Saldivar won the featherweight championship of the world. He battered the great champion Sugar Ramos and the bout ended in the twelfth round with a new champion being crowned. Saldivar was about to begin a campaign that eliminated all opposition to his throne. He started in 1965 by wearing down and finally stopping his game challenger Raul Rojas in the final round. In his next defense Vincente turned back the fierce challenge of Welshman Howard Winstone in fifteen rounds. These two would get to know each other very well over the next few years.

Saldivar opened 1966 with a two round kayo over Floyd Robertson. Next Vincente faced the stern challenge of Japan’s Mitsunori Seki. For the Japanese tiger, it would be his third shot at a world’s title. He failed in a 1961 bid to dethrone flyweight champion Pone Kingpetch and in 1964 he was beaten in six rounds by featherweight king Sugar Ramos. Seki gave Saldivar all he could handle but in the Vincente pounded out a decision victory.

Seki and Saldivar would meet again in 1967 and this time Vincente left no doubt to his claim to the title ending Seki’s challenge in the seventh round. Next was some unfinished business with Mr. Winstone. Again the spry and crafty Welshman traveled the fifteen round distance but in the end he fell short. The two bouts between Saldivar and Winstone were close enough to justify a third meeting. This time Saldivar ruled supreme ending Winstone’s dream in the twelfth round.

With really no one left to seriously challenge Vincente, he decided to retire. Quickly the World Boxing Council matched Saldivar’s two toughest challengers, Howard Winstone and Mitsunori Seki for the vacant title. On January 23, 1968 Howard Winstone finally got his championship beating Seki in nine rounds. Howard’s stay at the top was short lived as he lost the title to Spain’s Jose Legra in five rounds.

Finally there was some new blood in the division. Legra in turn would lose his crown by decision to Australia’s Johnny Famechon. Saldivar still felt he was the best featherweight in the world so he embarked on a come back. To prove he was worthy of a title shot he out fought Legra to win a ten round verdict. Then on May 9, 1970 in Rome, Italy Vincente met the champion Famechon. The Aussie was a very good fighter who had just sent the great Fighting Harada into retirement with a brutal fourteenth round kayo. Against Saldivar he was out boxed and out fought but gamely went the distance. The great Saldivar was king again.

It all came crashing down in his next fight. Vincente took on Japan’s Kuniaki Shibata. It seemed like Vincente grew old overnight. At times he boxed well and punched sharply but at other times seemed overwhelmed by the force of Shibata’s attacks. The Japanese fighter was very strong and try as he might, Vincente was unable to hold him off. Finally it was over. It ended in the thirteenth round. The reign of Saldivar was over.

Maybe Vincente was not yet convinced he was through or maybe he wanted to go out a winner. Anyway Saldivar returned to the ring seven months later and outpointed the always tough Frankie Crawford. Then two years later Saldivar again emerged to attempt to regain his throne. Former bantamweight champion Eder Jofre of Brazil had won recognition by the W.B.C. as featherweight champion by winning a majority decision over Jose Legra in May of 1973. Vincente would meet Jofre on October 21, 1973 in Brazil. What looked to be a great match up on paper turned out to be a bitter disappointment. Saldivar had nothing left. His great skills had eroded. Jofre was too strong and too powerful for the shell of this once great fighting machine. It ended in the fourth round and so did Saldivar’s career. There would be no more comebacks.

Vincente only had forty fights in his career. He won thirty seven of them. He was a knockout winner on twenty six occasions. He was the whole package in his prime. Pound for pound he was one of the best fighters in the 60’s.

Saldivar is almost forgotten. I had the opportunity of watching him defeat Raul Rojas in his first defense of the World Featherweight title, at the L.A. Coliseum in 1965. On the undercard, my stablemate, a heavyweight Nat'l Golden Gloves champ, Jerry Quarry, made his pro debut. Saldivar and Rojas busted each other up pretty good, but it was Saldivar who retained his title, stopping Raul in the 15th round.

Vicente's last fight against Eder Jofre, took place in my wife Monica's hometown of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

At the recent WBHOF banquet, Raul Rojas took his place on the dias with the rest of the legends. A former world champ himself, Rojas was a helluva fighter in his day. I fought on the undercard of two his past prime losses, to my stablemate Ruben Navarro, and a few months later to his former stablemate, Mando Ramos. Seeing Raul recently was not a happy moment. Confined to his wheel chair and barely aware of his surroundings, Rojas' eyes would light up when a familiar face would approach him. His head was bandaged from some sort recent injury.

Sometimes the ride on the way down can be Hell. As for Saldivar, I know he liked to drink, and he passed away at a very young age (he was in his 40's).

-Rick Farris

Saldivar's early death was a shock to me because he was renowned for his fitness as a fighter, an incredibly low pulse rate. I suppose neither was going to protect his liver.
Sadly, Winstone also basically drank himself to death.

bennie wrote:

kikibalt wrote:Surprise


Frank Falcon, seen here talking to Connie is my son, I fathered Frank with another woman,
he and Bobby are one week apart...

That was some week, Frankie.

Yeah, Bennie, it must have been, too bad I don't remember it.....

kikibalt wrote:
Undefeated Welsh world champion boxer Joe Calzaghe (2nd L) and his father Enzo (R) are pictured with his mother
Jackie (L) and his wife Jo-Emma, (2nd R) after Joe received his Commander of the British Empire (CBE) award for
services to sport and voluntary services in Wales, from Britian’s Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, in London,
on November 26, 2008. Photo by JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images)

Actually I don't think that is Calzaghe's wife but the girlfriend he left his wife for.

Boxingnut wrote:

kikibalt wrote:
Undefeated Welsh world champion boxer Joe Calzaghe (2nd L) and his father Enzo (R) are pictured with his mother
Jackie (L) and his wife Jo-Emma, (2nd R) after Joe received his Commander of the British Empire (CBE) award for
services to sport and voluntary services in Wales, from Britian’s Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, in London,
on November 26, 2008. Photo by JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images)

Actually I don't think that is Calzaghe's wife but the girlfriend he left his wife for.

Calzaghe's wife dumped him, Rob, for a rugby player. Calzaghe was distraught for a while and the divorce cost him a lot of money but Jo-Emma has filled the void.
You are right, I don't think they are married.

In Mexico, Casita Linda is building hope


With the help of Rhode Island School of Design students, American expats and other volunteers are helping to house the poorest of the poor in San Miguel de Allende.

By Jeff Spurrier

Reporting from San Miguel De Allende, Mexico -- Just a few miles from multimillion-dollar homes in this central Mexican resort town, the countryside yields to dirt-floor lean-tos made of sticks, rocks, cardboard, blankets or tarps. If residents are lucky, they have a panel of sheet metal as the roof. Out here in the campo, most have no running water, no electricity, no sewer system, no paved roads. These people -- some of about 20 million Mexicans who live in extreme poverty -- hold title to small plots that average about 650 square feet, thanks to land reform policies initiated in 1934, but they have little money to build.

This weekend, however, a few of these families can be thankful for this: new houses designed by American architecture students and built for less than $7,000 apiece using local materials and volunteer labor. The project is called Casita Linda, a small organization similar to Habitat for Humanity made up of foreign retirees, average age 60, few of whom have experience in construction. Their goal: to help the local poorest of the poor, mainly single mothers, by "building hope, one house at a time."

When Casita Linda started seven years ago, the focus was on speed and cost. The first dozen homes were poured-in-place concrete slabs, walls that could be put up and joined like Legos in a few weeks for a 12-by-14-foot structure that cost slightly more than $2,000. The buildings were unpopular, though, because they were hot in summer, cold in winter and prone to mildew during the rainy season. Some families moved out, using the new structures as storage units.

The houses had limited indoor plumbing but no toilets or hot water. Residents used the showers as toilets, and they reverted to heating water over a wood fire outside and taking bucket baths.

Then earlier this year, Rhode Island School of Design professor Silvia Acosta and 14 students arrived in San Miguel for a monthlong collaboration with Casita Linda. Upon learning that the concrete homes weren't working out, the Rhode Island group began brainstorming, talking with residents of future houses and taking note of the materials used in the town's architectural treasures, including its baroque church, el Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. They spent a week tweaking their design, ultimately devising a new plan based on an ancient material: adobe. "We knew that adobe was used once, since the town is built from it," Acosta says. "There is a stigma assigned to it. It's considered material for the poor, and these families would not have gone back to using it. That's what we heard often. Concrete showed signs of progress."

But the group forged ahead. They had a hard time finding a supply of adobe until the professor met Pedro Urquiza, a local architect who specializes in adobe construction and uses what he calls "stabilized" bricks made of fine gravel, sand, clay and 10% asphalt oil.

Each brick costs 40 cents, tripling the total budget for a 500-square-foot house. Despite the higher cost and the stigma, adobe remained the material of choice because of its thermal qualities, flexibility in design and ease of use in construction.

"You can shape adobe and cut the units as you go," Acosta says. "With concrete, you're stuck with that shape."

Instead of prohibitively expensive wooden beams for a flat roof, adobe bricks were used here as well, copying the vaulted bóveda ceilings in many San Miguel homes.

"If the masonry blocks were the only thing we're going to be using, the only way to produce a roof is by doing a dome or by doing a vault," Acosta says.

This high ceiling results in a cooler home and provides space for a small loft for sleeping. The height of the walls also meant structural support was needed on the sides, so buttresses were added, hollowed out for more interior space.

The RISD group's prototype was built in Ejido de Tirado, a rural community just outside the road encircling San Miguel. Based on that model, Casita Linda began constructing more homes, hiring four local workers to supplement the labor of future homeowners and 20 or so expat volunteers.

"We're now doing a house every 25 days or so," says Jean Gerber, the head of Casita Linda and a retired commercial real estate agent. "It's a simple model, not that complex. We don't need high-end builders on this thing."

On a Saturday in Ejido de Tirado, a dozen Casita Linda volunteers are finishing up house No. 19. They schlep 15-pound bricks, nail chicken wire to the wall in preparation for plastering and mix concrete.

Inside the house, Sergio Rio Mora is laying a brick floor over a bed of sand. This will be his house. Outside, under a blue tarp, his wife, Maria Dolores, makes tortillas -- lunch for the crew. Up on the roof, Miguel Cazarez Mendoza is laying adobe over a steel form for the bóveda. Last winter, he and his family were living in a roofless shack. They were the recipients of the RISD prototype, and he's now one of four employees on the Casita Linda team.

"It's much better now," he says, smiling, adding that the new homes do a better job of protecting against the elements. "It freezes out here."

Charles Cunliffe, the head of construction (and a former banker), gathers all the volunteers and warns them to cover the adobe when they leave because it's been raining. "And clean the cement off the tools," he says. "Take five minutes today or two hours tomorrow."

The volunteers -- a former Texas administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, a computer specialist, an L.A. Superior Court commissioner and a Shakespearean scholar from the City University of New York -- all nod meekly. Then the talk turns to water, power and sanitation.

The group's plan is to go green in the design -- adding $200 solar panels that are strong enough to power not only lights so kids can do homework in the evening, but also an adobe convection oven to lessen the demand for firewood. A composting outhouse will produce natural fertilizer. Perhaps glass bricks in the walls, the volunteers say, would bring in more natural light.

"We are altering the destiny of poverty," Cunliffe says. "It's changed the entire community. Kids are going to school now. They didn't before. These are the forgotten people."

A few volunteers walk over to check out the next project, house No. 20. It's for a family of eight, all female. The mother is pregnant, and so is her 15-year-old daughter. She's currently living in a doghouse-sized shed with soggy blankets for walls.

Spurrier is a freelance writer.

Rick Farris wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:EL BOLERO

I looked down at my shoes the other day I saw scuff marks on the sides. I knew i'd be going to Tijuana for my new glasses so I decided to get my shoes polished down there. Once was a time when San Diego had shoe shine stands,but I really couldn't tell you where one is today. Maybe it's a demeaning job to some. I don't know,but like I said I couldn't you tell where a stand is in San Diego today.

TJ is different. Downtown there's a stand on every other corner. Kids with their shine boxes roam the streets and are on public buses hustling you for a shine. There's a guy on 2nd and Constitution where I go. I go there because not only is he carefull with your shoes,his friends come by and play the assortment of 6 string guitars he has propped up inside his stand. While the old guy is meticuosly putting the polish on, I'm being serenaded by some pretty good singers and musicians. They're older guys. They sing the romantic songs that are very popular with that generation. "El Epocha de ORo". The Golden Age. Today it was a compadre singing "Mil Noches." I remember the late Cornelio Reyna really did justice with that song. Thia old timer wasn't bad either. "Old Corny" would have been proud to hear him sing.

After a good buffing and the the toothbrush application of the black polish on the soles,the old guy and his accompianist looked at my shoes.
"Como nuevos,"exclaimed the old man.
"Si amigo,like new."
I tipped him a dollar. He made a little quick sign of the cross and put the money in his pocket. As I walked away the old man joined the guitar player in a duet . They were singing "Cielito Lindo." Even wth all the noise of the traffic,I could hear them singing "Cielito Lindo" as I turned the corner.

Hey Rog, back in the 60's when I was a kid boxing in the Jr. GG's, I always wanted to fight wearing the same type trunks as the great Mexican boxers. Sometimes, Johnny Flores would go to TJ for a fight and he'd bring back some equipment. However, my grandfather and I would drive down and he'd take me to a sporting goods store where I was able to get exactly what I wanted. Maybe my memory is starting to slip, however, I believe the place was on a street called Revolution, and I think it was called "Viking Deportes" or something like that. I obviously don't know Tijuana like you, but does that sound familiar? I used to get these great Casanova trunks, and they were black velvet with red velvet stripes, like Saldivar and Pimentel wore. There were other Mexican brands as well, including "Seyer" (Which was the REYES brand spelled backwards), "Boxer" and a few others. I'd get the black leather extra high-top boxing boots, training gloves, head gear etc. I'd have my cup custom maid by Tony Marino or Teo Serrano at the Main Street Gym. Teo would a way of embossing the cups with your name or initials on the front, in red to contrast the black leather.

I idolized the Mexican greats and would study my espanol by trying to make sense of RING MUNDIAL, learning about the great Mexican bantams & featherweights. It's funny how kids think, but when I would have a Jr. GG's bout at the Teamsters Gym, I would pretend that I was actually fighting at the Olympic, against a Saldivar or Jose Medel, a couple of my idols. That was important to me when I was a kid. I wasn't just a kid passing time when I was in a boxing ring, it was serious business to me. I was very shy and quiet (not like today). Boxing was my refuge, my love and my passion, it kept a restless spirit out of trouble.

-Rick

Rick
Deportes Viking is still there. It's on Constitution Street. They don't sell much boxing gear anymore. I sent Frank a picture of the place a while back. He posted it on the thread.It's way back there.

Ali bought some training gloves there and a heavy bag when he was training for Norton. After the fight he gave Norton the bag.

kikibalt wrote:In Mexico, Casita Linda is building hope


With the help of Rhode Island School of Design students, American expats and other volunteers are helping to house the poorest of the poor in San Miguel de Allende.

By Jeff Spurrier

Reporting from San Miguel De Allende, Mexico -- Just a few miles from multimillion-dollar homes in this central Mexican resort town, the countryside yields to dirt-floor lean-tos made of sticks, rocks, cardboard, blankets or tarps. If residents are lucky, they have a panel of sheet metal as the roof. Out here in the campo, most have no running water, no electricity, no sewer system, no paved roads. These people -- some of about 20 million Mexicans who live in extreme poverty -- hold title to small plots that average about 650 square feet, thanks to land reform policies initiated in 1934, but they have little money to build.

This weekend, however, a few of these families can be thankful for this: new houses designed by American architecture students and built for less than $7,000 apiece using local materials and volunteer labor. The project is called Casita Linda, a small organization similar to Habitat for Humanity made up of foreign retirees, average age 60, few of whom have experience in construction. Their goal: to help the local poorest of the poor, mainly single mothers, by "building hope, one house at a time."

When Casita Linda started seven years ago, the focus was on speed and cost. The first dozen homes were poured-in-place concrete slabs, walls that could be put up and joined like Legos in a few weeks for a 12-by-14-foot structure that cost slightly more than $2,000. The buildings were unpopular, though, because they were hot in summer, cold in winter and prone to mildew during the rainy season. Some families moved out, using the new structures as storage units.

The houses had limited indoor plumbing but no toilets or hot water. Residents used the showers as toilets, and they reverted to heating water over a wood fire outside and taking bucket baths.

Then earlier this year, Rhode Island School of Design professor Silvia Acosta and 14 students arrived in San Miguel for a monthlong collaboration with Casita Linda. Upon learning that the concrete homes weren't working out, the Rhode Island group began brainstorming, talking with residents of future houses and taking note of the materials used in the town's architectural treasures, including its baroque church, el Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. They spent a week tweaking their design, ultimately devising a new plan based on an ancient material: adobe. "We knew that adobe was used once, since the town is built from it," Acosta says. "There is a stigma assigned to it. It's considered material for the poor, and these families would not have gone back to using it. That's what we heard often. Concrete showed signs of progress."

But the group forged ahead. They had a hard time finding a supply of adobe until the professor met Pedro Urquiza, a local architect who specializes in adobe construction and uses what he calls "stabilized" bricks made of fine gravel, sand, clay and 10% asphalt oil.

Each brick costs 40 cents, tripling the total budget for a 500-square-foot house. Despite the higher cost and the stigma, adobe remained the material of choice because of its thermal qualities, flexibility in design and ease of use in construction.

"You can shape adobe and cut the units as you go," Acosta says. "With concrete, you're stuck with that shape."

Instead of prohibitively expensive wooden beams for a flat roof, adobe bricks were used here as well, copying the vaulted bóveda ceilings in many San Miguel homes.

"If the masonry blocks were the only thing we're going to be using, the only way to produce a roof is by doing a dome or by doing a vault," Acosta says.

This high ceiling results in a cooler home and provides space for a small loft for sleeping. The height of the walls also meant structural support was needed on the sides, so buttresses were added, hollowed out for more interior space.

The RISD group's prototype was built in Ejido de Tirado, a rural community just outside the road encircling San Miguel. Based on that model, Casita Linda began constructing more homes, hiring four local workers to supplement the labor of future homeowners and 20 or so expat volunteers.

"We're now doing a house every 25 days or so," says Jean Gerber, the head of Casita Linda and a retired commercial real estate agent. "It's a simple model, not that complex. We don't need high-end builders on this thing."

On a Saturday in Ejido de Tirado, a dozen Casita Linda volunteers are finishing up house No. 19. They schlep 15-pound bricks, nail chicken wire to the wall in preparation for plastering and mix concrete.

Inside the house, Sergio Rio Mora is laying a brick floor over a bed of sand. This will be his house. Outside, under a blue tarp, his wife, Maria Dolores, makes tortillas -- lunch for the crew. Up on the roof, Miguel Cazarez Mendoza is laying adobe over a steel form for the bóveda. Last winter, he and his family were living in a roofless shack. They were the recipients of the RISD prototype, and he's now one of four employees on the Casita Linda team.

"It's much better now," he says, smiling, adding that the new homes do a better job of protecting against the elements. "It freezes out here."

Charles Cunliffe, the head of construction (and a former banker), gathers all the volunteers and warns them to cover the adobe when they leave because it's been raining. "And clean the cement off the tools," he says. "Take five minutes today or two hours tomorrow."

The volunteers -- a former Texas administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, a computer specialist, an L.A. Superior Court commissioner and a Shakespearean scholar from the City University of New York -- all nod meekly. Then the talk turns to water, power and sanitation.

The group's plan is to go green in the design -- adding $200 solar panels that are strong enough to power not only lights so kids can do homework in the evening, but also an adobe convection oven to lessen the demand for firewood. A composting outhouse will produce natural fertilizer. Perhaps glass bricks in the walls, the volunteers say, would bring in more natural light.

"We are altering the destiny of poverty," Cunliffe says. "It's changed the entire community. Kids are going to school now. They didn't before. These are the forgotten people."

A few volunteers walk over to check out the next project, house No. 20. It's for a family of eight, all female. The mother is pregnant, and so is her 15-year-old daughter. She's currently living in a doghouse-sized shed with soggy blankets for walls.

Spurrier is a freelance writer.

Frank
Interesting article. Just about everythng down there is made with adobe brick. Even our home. They'll stucco the outside ,but underneath is brick. The second picture looks a lot like the back area of my wife's home town. Later I'll write about a similar project I helped out with that backfired.

dagosd2000 wrote:

Rick Farris wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:EL BOLERO

I looked down at my shoes the other day I saw scuff marks on the sides. I knew i'd be going to Tijuana for my new glasses so I decided to get my shoes polished down there. Once was a time when San Diego had shoe shine stands,but I really couldn't tell you where one is today. Maybe it's a demeaning job to some. I don't know,but like I said I couldn't you tell where a stand is in San Diego today.

TJ is different. Downtown there's a stand on every other corner. Kids with their shine boxes roam the streets and are on public buses hustling you for a shine. There's a guy on 2nd and Constitution where I go. I go there because not only is he carefull with your shoes,his friends come by and play the assortment of 6 string guitars he has propped up inside his stand. While the old guy is meticuosly putting the polish on, I'm being serenaded by some pretty good singers and musicians. They're older guys. They sing the romantic songs that are very popular with that generation. "El Epocha de ORo". The Golden Age. Today it was a compadre singing "Mil Noches." I remember the late Cornelio Reyna really did justice with that song. Thia old timer wasn't bad either. "Old Corny" would have been proud to hear him sing.

After a good buffing and the the toothbrush application of the black polish on the soles,the old guy and his accompianist looked at my shoes.
"Como nuevos,"exclaimed the old man.
"Si amigo,like new."
I tipped him a dollar. He made a little quick sign of the cross and put the money in his pocket. As I walked away the old man joined the guitar player in a duet . They were singing "Cielito Lindo." Even wth all the noise of the traffic,I could hear them singing "Cielito Lindo" as I turned the corner.

Hey Rog, back in the 60's when I was a kid boxing in the Jr. GG's, I always wanted to fight wearing the same type trunks as the great Mexican boxers. Sometimes, Johnny Flores would go to TJ for a fight and he'd bring back some equipment. However, my grandfather and I would drive down and he'd take me to a sporting goods store where I was able to get exactly what I wanted. Maybe my memory is starting to slip, however, I believe the place was on a street called Revolution, and I think it was called "Viking Deportes" or something like that. I obviously don't know Tijuana like you, but does that sound familiar? I used to get these great Casanova trunks, and they were black velvet with red velvet stripes, like Saldivar and Pimentel wore. There were other Mexican brands as well, including "Seyer" (Which was the REYES brand spelled backwards), "Boxer" and a few others. I'd get the black leather extra high-top boxing boots, training gloves, head gear etc. I'd have my cup custom maid by Tony Marino or Teo Serrano at the Main Street Gym. Teo would a way of embossing the cups with your name or initials on the front, in red to contrast the black leather.

I idolized the Mexican greats and would study my espanol by trying to make sense of RING MUNDIAL, learning about the great Mexican bantams & featherweights. It's funny how kids think, but when I would have a Jr. GG's bout at the Teamsters Gym, I would pretend that I was actually fighting at the Olympic, against a Saldivar or Jose Medel, a couple of my idols. That was important to me when I was a kid. I wasn't just a kid passing time when I was in a boxing ring, it was serious business to me. I was very shy and quiet (not like today). Boxing was my refuge, my love and my passion, it kept a restless spirit out of trouble.

-Rick

Rick
Deportes Viking is still there. It's on Constitution Street. They don't sell much boxing gear anymore. I sent Frank a picture of the place a while back. He posted it on the thread.It's way back there.

Ali bought some training gloves there and a heavy bag when he was training for Norton. After the fight he gave Norton the bag.

Diego, can you re-send that pic. of Deportes Viking to me? I lost it and don't have anymore.

dagosd2000 wrote:

kikibalt wrote:In Mexico, Casita Linda is building hope


With the help of Rhode Island School of Design students, American expats and other volunteers are helping to house the poorest of the poor in San Miguel de Allende.

By Jeff Spurrier

Reporting from San Miguel De Allende, Mexico -- Just a few miles from multimillion-dollar homes in this central Mexican resort town, the countryside yields to dirt-floor lean-tos made of sticks, rocks, cardboard, blankets or tarps. If residents are lucky, they have a panel of sheet metal as the roof. Out here in the campo, most have no running water, no electricity, no sewer system, no paved roads. These people -- some of about 20 million Mexicans who live in extreme poverty -- hold title to small plots that average about 650 square feet, thanks to land reform policies initiated in 1934, but they have little money to build.

This weekend, however, a few of these families can be thankful for this: new houses designed by American architecture students and built for less than $7,000 apiece using local materials and volunteer labor. The project is called Casita Linda, a small organization similar to Habitat for Humanity made up of foreign retirees, average age 60, few of whom have experience in construction. Their goal: to help the local poorest of the poor, mainly single mothers, by "building hope, one house at a time."

When Casita Linda started seven years ago, the focus was on speed and cost. The first dozen homes were poured-in-place concrete slabs, walls that could be put up and joined like Legos in a few weeks for a 12-by-14-foot structure that cost slightly more than $2,000. The buildings were unpopular, though, because they were hot in summer, cold in winter and prone to mildew during the rainy season. Some families moved out, using the new structures as storage units.

The houses had limited indoor plumbing but no toilets or hot water. Residents used the showers as toilets, and they reverted to heating water over a wood fire outside and taking bucket baths.

Then earlier this year, Rhode Island School of Design professor Silvia Acosta and 14 students arrived in San Miguel for a monthlong collaboration with Casita Linda. Upon learning that the concrete homes weren't working out, the Rhode Island group began brainstorming, talking with residents of future houses and taking note of the materials used in the town's architectural treasures, including its baroque church, el Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. They spent a week tweaking their design, ultimately devising a new plan based on an ancient material: adobe. "We knew that adobe was used once, since the town is built from it," Acosta says. "There is a stigma assigned to it. It's considered material for the poor, and these families would not have gone back to using it. That's what we heard often. Concrete showed signs of progress."

But the group forged ahead. They had a hard time finding a supply of adobe until the professor met Pedro Urquiza, a local architect who specializes in adobe construction and uses what he calls "stabilized" bricks made of fine gravel, sand, clay and 10% asphalt oil.

Each brick costs 40 cents, tripling the total budget for a 500-square-foot house. Despite the higher cost and the stigma, adobe remained the material of choice because of its thermal qualities, flexibility in design and ease of use in construction.

"You can shape adobe and cut the units as you go," Acosta says. "With concrete, you're stuck with that shape."

Instead of prohibitively expensive wooden beams for a flat roof, adobe bricks were used here as well, copying the vaulted bóveda ceilings in many San Miguel homes.

"If the masonry blocks were the only thing we're going to be using, the only way to produce a roof is by doing a dome or by doing a vault," Acosta says.

This high ceiling results in a cooler home and provides space for a small loft for sleeping. The height of the walls also meant structural support was needed on the sides, so buttresses were added, hollowed out for more interior space.

The RISD group's prototype was built in Ejido de Tirado, a rural community just outside the road encircling San Miguel. Based on that model, Casita Linda began constructing more homes, hiring four local workers to supplement the labor of future homeowners and 20 or so expat volunteers.

"We're now doing a house every 25 days or so," says Jean Gerber, the head of Casita Linda and a retired commercial real estate agent. "It's a simple model, not that complex. We don't need high-end builders on this thing."

On a Saturday in Ejido de Tirado, a dozen Casita Linda volunteers are finishing up house No. 19. They schlep 15-pound bricks, nail chicken wire to the wall in preparation for plastering and mix concrete.

Inside the house, Sergio Rio Mora is laying a brick floor over a bed of sand. This will be his house. Outside, under a blue tarp, his wife, Maria Dolores, makes tortillas -- lunch for the crew. Up on the roof, Miguel Cazarez Mendoza is laying adobe over a steel form for the bóveda. Last winter, he and his family were living in a roofless shack. They were the recipients of the RISD prototype, and he's now one of four employees on the Casita Linda team.

"It's much better now," he says, smiling, adding that the new homes do a better job of protecting against the elements. "It freezes out here."

Charles Cunliffe, the head of construction (and a former banker), gathers all the volunteers and warns them to cover the adobe when they leave because it's been raining. "And clean the cement off the tools," he says. "Take five minutes today or two hours tomorrow."

The volunteers -- a former Texas administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, a computer specialist, an L.A. Superior Court commissioner and a Shakespearean scholar from the City University of New York -- all nod meekly. Then the talk turns to water, power and sanitation.

The group's plan is to go green in the design -- adding $200 solar panels that are strong enough to power not only lights so kids can do homework in the evening, but also an adobe convection oven to lessen the demand for firewood. A composting outhouse will produce natural fertilizer. Perhaps glass bricks in the walls, the volunteers say, would bring in more natural light.

"We are altering the destiny of poverty," Cunliffe says. "It's changed the entire community. Kids are going to school now. They didn't before. These are the forgotten people."

A few volunteers walk over to check out the next project, house No. 20. It's for a family of eight, all female. The mother is pregnant, and so is her 15-year-old daughter. She's currently living in a doghouse-sized shed with soggy blankets for walls.

Spurrier is a freelance writer.

Frank
Interesting article. Just about everythng down there is made with adobe brick. Even our home. They'll stucco the outside ,but underneath is brick. The second picture looks a lot like the back area of my wife's home town. Later I'll write about a similar project I helped out with that backfired.

Diego, when I see a pic. like the second one, all that open land, it reminds me of my youth, growing up in Montebello, Ca. there is nothing like that around here anymore.

kikibalt wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:

kikibalt wrote:In Mexico, Casita Linda is building hope


With the help of Rhode Island School of Design students, American expats and other volunteers are helping to house the poorest of the poor in San Miguel de Allende.

By Jeff Spurrier

Reporting from San Miguel De Allende, Mexico -- Just a few miles from multimillion-dollar homes in this central Mexican resort town, the countryside yields to dirt-floor lean-tos made of sticks, rocks, cardboard, blankets or tarps. If residents are lucky, they have a panel of sheet metal as the roof. Out here in the campo, most have no running water, no electricity, no sewer system, no paved roads. These people -- some of about 20 million Mexicans who live in extreme poverty -- hold title to small plots that average about 650 square feet, thanks to land reform policies initiated in 1934, but they have little money to build.

This weekend, however, a few of these families can be thankful for this: new houses designed by American architecture students and built for less than $7,000 apiece using local materials and volunteer labor. The project is called Casita Linda, a small organization similar to Habitat for Humanity made up of foreign retirees, average age 60, few of whom have experience in construction. Their goal: to help the local poorest of the poor, mainly single mothers, by "building hope, one house at a time."

When Casita Linda started seven years ago, the focus was on speed and cost. The first dozen homes were poured-in-place concrete slabs, walls that could be put up and joined like Legos in a few weeks for a 12-by-14-foot structure that cost slightly more than $2,000. The buildings were unpopular, though, because they were hot in summer, cold in winter and prone to mildew during the rainy season. Some families moved out, using the new structures as storage units.

The houses had limited indoor plumbing but no toilets or hot water. Residents used the showers as toilets, and they reverted to heating water over a wood fire outside and taking bucket baths.

Then earlier this year, Rhode Island School of Design professor Silvia Acosta and 14 students arrived in San Miguel for a monthlong collaboration with Casita Linda. Upon learning that the concrete homes weren't working out, the Rhode Island group began brainstorming, talking with residents of future houses and taking note of the materials used in the town's architectural treasures, including its baroque church, el Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. They spent a week tweaking their design, ultimately devising a new plan based on an ancient material: adobe. "We knew that adobe was used once, since the town is built from it," Acosta says. "There is a stigma assigned to it. It's considered material for the poor, and these families would not have gone back to using it. That's what we heard often. Concrete showed signs of progress."

But the group forged ahead. They had a hard time finding a supply of adobe until the professor met Pedro Urquiza, a local architect who specializes in adobe construction and uses what he calls "stabilized" bricks made of fine gravel, sand, clay and 10% asphalt oil.

Each brick costs 40 cents, tripling the total budget for a 500-square-foot house. Despite the higher cost and the stigma, adobe remained the material of choice because of its thermal qualities, flexibility in design and ease of use in construction.

"You can shape adobe and cut the units as you go," Acosta says. "With concrete, you're stuck with that shape."

Instead of prohibitively expensive wooden beams for a flat roof, adobe bricks were used here as well, copying the vaulted bóveda ceilings in many San Miguel homes.

"If the masonry blocks were the only thing we're going to be using, the only way to produce a roof is by doing a dome or by doing a vault," Acosta says.

This high ceiling results in a cooler home and provides space for a small loft for sleeping. The height of the walls also meant structural support was needed on the sides, so buttresses were added, hollowed out for more interior space.

The RISD group's prototype was built in Ejido de Tirado, a rural community just outside the road encircling San Miguel. Based on that model, Casita Linda began constructing more homes, hiring four local workers to supplement the labor of future homeowners and 20 or so expat volunteers.

"We're now doing a house every 25 days or so," says Jean Gerber, the head of Casita Linda and a retired commercial real estate agent. "It's a simple model, not that complex. We don't need high-end builders on this thing."

On a Saturday in Ejido de Tirado, a dozen Casita Linda volunteers are finishing up house No. 19. They schlep 15-pound bricks, nail chicken wire to the wall in preparation for plastering and mix concrete.

Inside the house, Sergio Rio Mora is laying a brick floor over a bed of sand. This will be his house. Outside, under a blue tarp, his wife, Maria Dolores, makes tortillas -- lunch for the crew. Up on the roof, Miguel Cazarez Mendoza is laying adobe over a steel form for the bóveda. Last winter, he and his family were living in a roofless shack. They were the recipients of the RISD prototype, and he's now one of four employees on the Casita Linda team.

"It's much better now," he says, smiling, adding that the new homes do a better job of protecting against the elements. "It freezes out here."

Charles Cunliffe, the head of construction (and a former banker), gathers all the volunteers and warns them to cover the adobe when they leave because it's been raining. "And clean the cement off the tools," he says. "Take five minutes today or two hours tomorrow."

The volunteers -- a former Texas administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, a computer specialist, an L.A. Superior Court commissioner and a Shakespearean scholar from the City University of New York -- all nod meekly. Then the talk turns to water, power and sanitation.

The group's plan is to go green in the design -- adding $200 solar panels that are strong enough to power not only lights so kids can do homework in the evening, but also an adobe convection oven to lessen the demand for firewood. A composting outhouse will produce natural fertilizer. Perhaps glass bricks in the walls, the volunteers say, would bring in more natural light.

"We are altering the destiny of poverty," Cunliffe says. "It's changed the entire community. Kids are going to school now. They didn't before. These are the forgotten people."

A few volunteers walk over to check out the next project, house No. 20. It's for a family of eight, all female. The mother is pregnant, and so is her 15-year-old daughter. She's currently living in a doghouse-sized shed with soggy blankets for walls.

Spurrier is a freelance writer.

Frank
Interesting article. Just about everythng down there is made with adobe brick. Even our home. They'll stucco the outside ,but underneath is brick. The second picture looks a lot like the back area of my wife's home town. Later I'll write about a similar project I helped out with that backfired.

Diego, when I see a pic. like the second one, all that open land, it reminds me of my youth, growing up in Montebello, Ca. there is nothing like that around here anymore.

It looks almost English there, very green and very cloudy.

bennie wrote:

Boxingnut wrote:

kikibalt wrote:
Undefeated Welsh world champion boxer Joe Calzaghe (2nd L) and his father Enzo (R) are pictured with his mother
Jackie (L) and his wife Jo-Emma, (2nd R) after Joe received his Commander of the British Empire (CBE) award for
services to sport and voluntary services in Wales, from Britian’s Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, in London,
on November 26, 2008. Photo by JOHN STILLWELL/AFP/Getty Images)

Actually I don't think that is Calzaghe's wife but the girlfriend he left his wife for.

Calzaghe's wife dumped him, Rob, for a rugby player. Calzaghe was distraught for a while and the divorce cost him a lot of money but Jo-Emma has filled the void.
You are right, I don't think they are married.

Cheers Bennie, never knew that. I had heard that Joe's wife was a bit plain looking and that Joe had left her for Jo-Emma, shows you what I know, ie. nothing. Calzaghe doesn't mention the divorce much in his book, I read in the papers it was pretty bitter.

Very. Joe was still in love with her during the divorce, kids were involved - the usual emotional stuff. Joe is half-Italian, of course, a very proud man. They don't like losing their women.

It could be worse, of course, he could be half-French.

kikibalt wrote:
I have to put my two cent here about a fighter showing heart, my son Frankie showed me more heart that I thought he had when he fought Juan Escobar, you that have seen that fight, I think would agree with me.


Frankie after the Escobar fight...

I can back up that statement. Frankie showed a big heart in the Juan Escobar fight. How good was Escobar? Well, He fought Salvador Sanchez to a draw so that gives you some indication. Frankie had a rough start in that fight. He wasn't able to find his range early on and he wasn't getting his punches off, throwing one punch at a time. The early rounds, and I'm not taking anything away from Escobar, were marked more by what Frankie wasn't doing than by what Escobar was doing. Frankie seemed distracted.

The announcers were already writing Frankie off and almost seemed to expect Frankie to be knocked out. A fighter with heart should never be counted out. Frankie was still in the fight and in the fourth or fifth round landed a solid right hook that shook Escobar and was the beginning of Frankie's comeback in the fight. He found his range.

My plan was to write a review on my website alongside the video but I have just not been able to upload the video to youtube or any other site. I'll be reviewing this fight soon. This fight contains my favorite fighting word: Heart! Frankie wears that word quite well and to be fair so does Escobar. That's what made it a great fight.

I was always a fan of both Frankie and Tony back in the days when they were both fighting. Both of them were good, tough durable fighters that gave their all. They never got the titles they wanted. That's okay, they gave championship performances when it counted. They're in good company with guys like Armando Muniz, Yaqui Lopez, Indian Red Lopez, George Chuvalo, Charley Burley and the Quarry brother, Jerry and Mike. I'd say that's damned good company to be in. They can both hold their heads up proudly, their fans remember them.

Frank, I think we would all be interested in what was going through yourmind while you were in the corner, especially during the early rounds.

Randy

My Thanksgiving plate.

At Lori and Tom's for Thanksgiving.

Randyman wrote:

My Thanksgiving plate.

I thought you were sick, Randy!!....