I am interested in technology that could be used to help the poor and found some information on a refugee shelter called a Hexayurt.
The hexayurt can be made of a number of materials, but it is generally some kind of strong but light honeycomb panels. Six panels are used for the roof and between six and twelve panels can by used for the main walls depending if you are building a larger one or smaller one.
The hexayurt was created by Vinay Gupta. He developed the hexayurt for the long term because refugees often are in camps for up to 17-20 years. The panels are easily moved by a couple of men, they can be stacked and transported by truck. The panels would be assembled together using strong filament tape.
The project has been developed as open source - so anyone can access the plans who need them. Governments and individuals can access the plans free of charge. According to Gupta, the materials for a structure can be purchased for a couple of hundred dollars and two people with some experience can assemble one in a couple of hours.
They are waterproof structures. The floor would generally be a tarp.
The shelter is mobile and could easily be taken down and re-assembled elsewhere if needed. You would just have to tape it back up. A truck could carry a large number of these if needed.
The organizers have also developed and infrastructure kit for handling water, sewage, etc.
This is a great idea with a lot of potential. Go to hexayurt for more information.
