What we built

At Yoko North, four villas were finished between 2022 and 2024. The first was built as the model home, paid for by a group of members through a joint venture. Three more were started and stopped halfway when the money to finish them ran out. Owners are still building there today.

Before the bridge and the road, there was no access to Yoko North. You had to hike in. With a neighbour who knew local development, we built a bridge and an access road. Building a bridge is no small task, and we hired engineers to build it. Nearby families who had to cross the river to get home finally had a way across.

At Yoko South it was the same. There was no access to even get onto the land, and similar work was done to create access.

We built with what the land gave us. Casa Pochote was built between the trees, with one tree inside the house. All the walls were made from local soil, wood and straw, using the traditional bahareque method.

Instead of a big retaining wall, we planted many kinds of plants on a very steep slope of about 2,500 square metres at Sangha. They're still there, and the slope has held to this day. A huge wall would have hurt the look of the land, and we cared about that.

Sangha continues to build today under a different name. It was meant to be the community centre for Yoko North, but sadly we couldn't make that dream come true.

We did weekly beach cleanups, helped the Rio Negro School install hot showers, supported a wildlife sanctuary, and donated a car to a local woman starting a cooking business. Yoko Connect brought the community together to talk openly about the vision and its problems.