Habitat For Humanity Programs In The Asia-Pacific Region To Mark World Habitat Day
Hard Hats For Habitat Initiative Will Be Featured In Various Builds And Online T-Shirt Design Competition
BANGKOK, 20th September: Many Habitat for Humanity programs in the Asia-Pacific region plan to celebrate World Habitat Day (WHD) this October, in recognition of the basic need for adequate shelter and the “better life” benefits that follow – improved health, education, safety and economic opportunities.
Habitat volunteers in Cambodia and Bangladesh will don hard hats on builds.
Merchandise for Hard Hats for Habitat include luggage tags (left) and a special polo T-shirt signed by HFH China’s celebrity volunteers, actress/singer Karen Mok and actor/director Daniel Wu.
HFH India will invite shoppers at a popular mall in Mumbai to donate toward the purchase of bricks, roof tiles, windows or door to build a model house.
This month, in the lead-up to 4th October, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia will have over 100 local Habitat volunteers don Hard Hats for Habitat when they take part in a build. The volunteer teams will be designing personalized T-shirts or hard hats to represent their group and also reflect the need for safe housing.
HFH China’s Hong Kong office has designed a special polo T-shirt signed by two of their celebrity volunteers – actors Karen Mok and Daniel Wu. For a HK100 (US13) donation, caring companies associated with home design, furnishings and appliances will receive a shirt to be worn on WHD. Habitat will also launch a school competition to educate and advocate for decent shelter.
In the week leading up to WHD, HFH India will host a series of events at a popular mall in Mumbai which sees on the average 40,000 shoppers a day. Part fund-raiser, part awareness-building, the activity will invite shoppers to donate toward the purchase of bricks, roof tiles, windows and doors for the building of a model Habitat home. Shoppers will be photographed wearing hard hats as they add a piece to complete the construction of the model home.
During HFH Nepal’s Everest Build, about 700 international and Nepali volunteers will be invited to display their national flags and declare that they are committed to the mission of elimination of poverty housing. Government and local UN-Habitat representatives are expected to participate.
Down under, HFH Australia will serve up a new event called “High Tea for Habitat” on WHD. The grand hostess (ambassador) of the event is Jill Jones-Evans, co-owner of the Victoria Room, who has been dubbed Sydney’s Queen of High Tea. Reservations are now open for volunteers to host their own high tea any time in October; proceeds to be channeled through Habitat for Humanity to build more homes and implement other community development initiatives for families in need in Australia and elsewhere.
HFH Philippines hopes to engage and energize their volunteers to join the fight against poverty housing through various digital media avenues. In October, the theme Hard Hats for Habitat will underpin a series of activities including a social media blitz, a youth build, a bloggers’ build and a comprehensive media outreach exercise featuring print editorials, radio interviews, cinema and outdoor public service announcements.
Other Habitat programs will be holding special builds. In Thailand, simultaneous builds in four locations – Chiang Mai, Udon Thani, Pathum Thani and Ranong, coupled with media interviews in Bangkok, will raise awareness of the issues of inadequate housing and call for volunteers to help build better homes to transform lives. Over in Bangladesh, a Hard Hats for Habitat build is being organized.
In the virtual realm, an online T-shirt design competition on the theme Hard Hats for Habitat will be launched on World Habitat Day. Habitat supporters across the Asia-Pacific region will be invited to design a T-shirt which declares to their friends and the wider community that they want to help someone in need of decent shelter to have a better home.
The T-shirt designs will be uploaded on to a website to see which is the most popular. The T-shirt with the most number of votes will be produced by Habitat for Humanity to help raise awareness, support and funds for the mission. The winner will also receive several of such limited-edition T-shirts to give away to friends and family.