Straws of Steel Project is Upcoming Topic for GRMC SE*ED Program

Grinnell College student, Ashraya Dixit will implement an international peace project this summer in Nepal to include a straw bale construction project. Dixit will present, “Straws of Steel,” at the Monday, April 16, Grinnell Regional Medical Center SE*ED program. The program begins at 10 a.m. at the Drake Community Library.

The SE*ED programs are free and open to the public. No reservations are required and refreshments are available. Please know that seating is limited to the first 100 people.

Dixit, a first-year student from Kathmandu, Nepal, will work this summer to pilot a straw bale construction project in Kapilbastu, Nepal, an area frequently hit by flash floods and earthquakes. The Straws of Steel project includes a workshop to introduce community members to the low cost, energy-efficient building technique, actual construction of straw bale houses, and documentation of the construction process in the disaster-prone area.

For this project, Dixit has earned a Davis Project for Peace award of $10,000.

            Other programs on the April schedule include Jordan Scheibel of Imagine Grinnell to discuss Grinnell’s new single-stream recycling program on April 23 and “The Monroe Hotel” with Betty Moffett and Frank Heath on April 30.   

Parking is available at the Drake Community Library, along Park Street, on Fifth Avenue, and in the First Presbyterian Church parking lot.

Seniors needing transportation may call GRMC’s Office of Communications and Development at 641-236-2954 the Thursday before the program.

If you are a person with a disability who requires special assistance,

please call 641-236-2954. For more information about upcoming speakers please check GRMC’s website at www.grmc.us or call 641-236-2954.