Habitat For Humanity Indonesia Hosts Second Women Build Team In Bali
September 19th, 2011
More Than 20 Women Volunteers From USA Help To Build Two Homes
HFH Indonesia’s second Women Build team came from the USA and built with two widows.
BALI, 19th September 2011: Six months after Habitat for Humanity Indonesia hosted its first-ever Women Build team on the resort island of Bali, it had its second team of all-women volunteers build in the same village.
The 22 women volunteers, who hailed from the USA, worked from 5th to 20th August. They built homes in Gigit village, Sukasada sub-district in Buleleng regency, northern Bali.
Among the volunteers was Michele Ober, a volunteer coordinator at Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine, an affiliate in the USA.
Ober came up with novel ways of raising funds for her Habitat build in Bali. These included a “flamingo flocking” which involved placing plastic pink flamingos on people’s lawns and asking for a donation to have them removed. She raised US1,000 this way. Members of a social group that Michele is involved with decided to host a garage sale to help raise money for the trip. The group contributed US800 from the garage sale. Eventually, Michele raised a total of US3,600.
“I am blessed to know those who would support me so I could support others in need of affordable housing,” she said.
The support of Michele and her team-mates is appreciated by two widows who partnered with HFH Indonesia to build their homes. Nyoman Wirniti, 60, used to work on a local coffee plantation with her husband until he died a few years ago. Since then, she has been living at different sons’ houses for two weeks each time. Nyoman is a spirited woman who makes bamboo hats for a living. She is able to make three bamboo hats a day for which she earns 10,000 rupiah (US1.10).
Seventy-year-old widow Wayan Rebet was living with one of her married sons until he passed away half a year ago. She had to move back into the wooden house which she shared with her husband. It takes her 20 minutes to walk up a steep road to get to her house. She has simple meals such as keladi, a sweet root vegetable, with sambal chilli. Wayan’s former landlord agreed to let her build her Habitat house on the land on which her old house stood.
The first Women Build team also built in Gigit village in February 2011. The team comprised volunteers from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.