Asia-Pacific youth and Habitat for Humanity join hands to implement solutions for decent housing

“We at Habitat for Humanity know that young leaders lend a unique energy to our mission to build a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Since we started hosting the Habitat Young Leaders Build campaign in 2012, young people have contributed their creativity and energy to helping families in need build homes. We are excited to see more of them advocate for policies to expand access to adequate housing and innovate solutions for sustainable development. We are proud to amplify the outputs of youth-led activities and projects and how young leaders have created tangible positive impact in the communities where they work,” said Jay Ancheta, Volunteer Programs Associate Director for Asia-Pacific, Habitat for Humanity International.

The Young Leaders Build campaign opened its 13th season in December during International Volunteer Day. Volunteers lent their hand in various ways: helping earthquake affected communities in Nepal and Japan remove rubble and build temporary housing, expanding their peers’ awareness about the link between housing and urban challenges in Korea, building new houses in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Cambodia, and cleaning houses of vulnerable residents in Singapore and Hong Kong, among others. “The campaign also highlights winning solutions to improve housing conditions from young leaders in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Nepal.

“The courage I’ve found to navigate the roads and earn a living for myself and my family stems from the security of having a home. My residence now stands as my pillar of strength,” said Pramila, a Habitat Nepal homeowner. “Having a stable home has left a profound and positive impact on our lives, bolstering our self-confidence.” Since moving into her new home, she also volunteered for the HYLB campaign and became a champion of housing in her community.
 

Close to 350 volunteers will join her and volunteer in the campaign’s culmination. They will work alongside families in vulnerable situations, Habitat staff and community members to build, repair and paint houses and declutter and clean houses. They will remove rubble, prepare temporary housing and build furniture for people affected by disaster. They will also join awareness-raising activities through social media and a walkathon. By the end of the campaign, the volunteers are expected to have also raised more than US$21,000 in support for the cause of housing.