Displaced during the 30-year civil war in Sri Lanka, the families who partnered with Habitat in the EU-funded project are able to provide a secure, comfortable home for the future generation.

Once Ushathevi and her family had to keep fleeing the shelling that came down like rain in Sri Lanka. Now she can rest under the shade of mango trees in her home garden. It is a luxury that her grandchild can also enjoy.

Her family was the first to build their home in Vilawedduwan village, Batticaloa province, in 2017 with compressed stabilized earth blocks, an appropriate construction material that provides thermal comfort. They were among nearly 1,070 families who have built such homes by late November 2020 through the European Union-funded “Homes not Houses” project in eastern and northeastern Sri Lanka. The project is implemented by Habitat Sri Lanka and World Vision Sri Lanka.

When Ushathevi and her family opened the doors to their new home in 2017, they finally closed the chapter on years of displacement and uncertainty due to the 30-year ethnic war in Sri Lanka. After a decade of moving from one refugee camp to another, a secure home of their own meant they could put down roots and plan for a brighter future.

Since moving into a permanent, secure home three years ago, their family income has at least doubled to 1,000 Sri Lankan rupees (over US$5) a day with yields from her garden of fruit such as oranges and mangoes as well as crops of beans and peanuts. They have also added one bedroom to accommodate the eldest son Akash and new daughter-in-law.

In the same village, Anjalithevi is nurturing a new life in her family after becoming a homeowner in 2018 through the EU project. She gave birth to her second son Sarwin, now 12 months old, in 2020. “My children love their bedroom where it is spacious and cool. They don’t use a fan even during the day,” she said. “I’m extremely happy that the children are growing in a healthy environment.”

Over the last two years, her husband Allimuththu’s income has improved. As a carpenter, he used to earn between 250 and 1,000 Sri Lankan rupees daily from working with hotels, schools and small shops. By providing carpentry work needed for the homes that Habitat Sri Lanka is building under the “Homes not Houses” project, his earnings has more than doubled to between 1,500 and 2,500 Sri Lankan rupees daily. “We want to improve our carpentry business. I also hope to invest in a new sewing machine so I can earn some income,” Anjalithevi said.

As of November 30, 2020, Habitat Sri Lanka has completed 1,959 out of 2,366 new and repaired homes under the EU-funded project. Another 293 houses are in the process of being certified as completed. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical inspections by the District Secretariat that are necessary for certifying the house completion have been delayed.

Work on the project was also paused for a few months to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in accordance with the Sri Lankan government’s regulations. Habitat Sri Lanka, through reallocated funds donated by the EU, provided a one-time cash grant of 12,000 Sri Lankan rupees each to 1,986 future homeowners to tide them over.

For Yogendra, a 43-year-old housewife, moving into a decent house in 2018 in Vilawedduwan village has helped her family to cope amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “The biggest impact was the fact that our family could sell eggs and make a living even during the lockdown.”

Her daughter Thenuja, 14, appreciates their Habitat home for a different reason: more space to gather neighbors’ children together for a time of learning. Their old home was simply too small to accommodate the children who needed tutoring from Thenuja. In the afternoon, it can get too hot for the children to sit outdoors.

An aspiring teacher, Thenuja conducts daily study classes in their living room that is cool and comfortable. “My little brother is the naughtiest but he still pretends to study,” she quipped. As an encouragement, she shared: “Everyone must educate themselves fervently, so that they may live useful lives for their home, community and country.”

MANILA (January 14, 2021) — Young leaders showed strong support for the 2021 Habitat Young Leaders Build campaign despite the tenth annual edition being launched in a new normal. Without in-person activities — characteristic of previous campaigns launched on International Volunteer Day, December 5 — youth supporters tapped into social media to raise awareness and rally their peers to support the cause of decent, affordable housing.

‘X’, the roman numeral for ‘10’, was aptly used in social media graphics for the campaign’s largely virtual launch. More than 400 posts with a total reach of almost 630,000 online audiences were registered on December 5 alone. Besides using a custom Facebook frame, supporters shared photos and stories online to highlight the positive impacts of decent housing on families and communities as well as the benefits gained from volunteering on Habitat builds.

Other activities included:

JAPAN: Habitat’s campus chapters organized an online educational series on Habitat’s work and the Sustainable Development Goals and discussions on volunteer safety as well as volunteering virtually.

SINGAPORE: a total of 26 volunteers from the Hwa Chong Institution, Raffles Institution and Yale-NUS Habitat campus chapters helped five older people to clean their homes during a Project HomeWorks activity.

INDIA: more than 1,700 participants cumulatively ran more than 10,000 kilometers in 10 cities during ‘VolRUNteer.’ The event was organized by Habitat India to raise awareness of the campaign as well as funds for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since December, over 50 young leaders have raised at least 100,000 Indian rupees (over US$1,300) each through ‘VolRUNteer’ and crowdfunding sites.

INDONESIA: a virtual meeting called ‘RUMAH’ (meaning ‘house’ in Indonesian) marked the campaign’s launch with participants representing United Nations Volunteers and Habitat in Indonesia and the Philippines as well as academe. One of the youth speakers, Jacqueline Handoyo, declared: “I absolutely love Habitat. The day I volunteered for them was the day I discovered that my true purpose in life is bigger than myself. It gives me a reason in life to wake up every morning and to work hard because there’s a world out there that needs nurturing and needs our help. I truly fell in love with helping people in need and felling true fulfillment/gratitude through giving.” After taking part in ‘RUMAH,’ Hannah Dermawan and Louisa Nakamura, both 15, have started raising funds to improve a house and a school in Jakarta.

The following week, Habitat Indonesia co-hosted a virtual “HFI Volunteer Appreciation Night” with Humanitarian Forum Indonesia, a collaboration of non-governmental organizations. About 50 people joined the online event (in Bahasa Indonesia) that aimed to highlight youth volunteering activities that support humanitarian efforts including responses to COVID-19 and disasters in the country.

Following the virtual event, Habitat Indonesia conducted the Chandra Asri leadership training for 80 people — all wearing masks amid physical distancing and other measures — in Anyer, Banten. The participants drafted 16 project proposals that address their community’s concerns, namely the need to improve the youth’s employability and to promote the community’s agricultural products in online marketplaces.

Philippines: seven campus chapters based in Metro Manila organized a webinar, “Beyond the Concrete,” ahead of the campaign launch to highlight the impact of housing from a multi-sectoral perspective and to empower the youth to take action. The spotlight also turned on a student-initiated fundraising drive, “Bigay Bukas”. Funds raised will be used to help provide school supplies and tools to support distance learning of children living in communities where Habitat works.

On December 5, a video featuring young leaders making the case for the cause of housing kicked off the campaign. “What we are building is not just the houses for people to live in but also the community they can stay and also the opportunities for their future,” said Rita Galvez, president of Habitat’s University of the Philippines Diliman campus chapter.

The multi-month #HabitatYLB campaign will continue with a regional virtual volunteer conference in February 2020.  Some of Asia-Pacific’s most passionate champions for the cause of housing will come together to discuss shelter issues and create action plans to mobilize the youth to support Habitat’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic in their countries. Follow Habitat Young Leaders Build on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more details.

Ashish’s life might have taken a different course if his parents had not built a new home with Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh. Without decent shelter, they would still be afraid whenever the weather turns bad. Ashish’s young son would also have to do his homework on the bed, as his father had done for many years.

But a safe, secure home laid the foundation for a better life. “I was the unemployed son of a poor family. Today, I have social standing and a decent life. It was possible because of Habitat’s support. My family and I will always be grateful,” said Ashish who lives in Raghurampur Majhipara, a village in north-central Mymensingh district. 

He recalled that in 2000, nearly two decades ago, Habitat Bangladesh’s staff were in his village to survey housing needs. His parents could not afford to repair their windowless bamboo house after it had been badly damaged by a storm. So they approached Habitat Bangladesh for help in rebuilding their home.

With the help of a kind neighbor, Ashish’s parents were able to make a down payment of 3,000 taka (over US$35) for a five-year housing loan. Together with two other families, they became the first Habitat homeowners in Mymensingh. 

As Ashish was already 22, he and his parents each needed their own rooms. They took loans to provide the additional construction materials for building a 27-square-meter house that was bigger than Habitat’s core houses in Bangladesh.

Although he wanted to be a doctor, he stopped his studies at the age of 16 after his grade 10 examinations. He gave private tuition to supplement his family’s income. With the money he earned, Ashish was able to buy food and pay for household expenses. He could also afford new clothing for his parents for religious festivities.

When Habitat Bangladesh started building more homes in his community, Ashish’s life began to change. To improve the rate of repayment, Ashish was hired by Habitat Bangladesh in 2001 to monitor and collect monthly repayments from families. In August 2005, he became a construction supervisor with Habitat when the new position was created.

“That was a new beginning for me as I had a new meaning in life,” Ashish recalls. With a stable job, he could repay the loans his family had taken to build a larger house and buy appliances and furniture on hire purchase.

He became the bread winner when his father Himangshu Chandra, who had typhoid, lost his source of income. “All the responsibilities of the household fell on my shoulders.”

When Ashish turned 30, he delayed his arranged marriage so as to expand the house and install a tube well. He married Orchona in 2010 and they have two children Aditta and Rakhi, aged 7 and 2 respectively.

Despite having to provide for his family and caring for his mother who has health problems, he was able to further his education. In 1998, Ashish enrolled in a government polytechnic and completed a diploma course in engineering. Ten years later, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in social science. In 2018, he graduated with a Masters degree in development studies from a public university.

After two decades of involvement, Ashish identifies with the cause of secure, affordable housing. “I will continue to take personal responsibility for achieving the mission and vision of Habitat.”

MANILA (Nov. 9, 2020) — In commemoration of World Habitat Day, October 5, a livestream was organized by Habitat for Humanity in support of its global fundraising campaign, Homes, Communities, Hope + You. The webinar, “Is housing the secret to economic recovery from COVID-19?”, focused on the housing sector as a key economic driver and how different stakeholders could foster affordable and inclusive housing markets.

The webinar also coincided with the release of the Habitat-commissioned report, Cornerstone of Recovery: How Housing Can Help Emerging Market Economies Rebound from COVID-19. The study revealed how emerging economies that have been struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic may be significantly underestimating the housing sector’s contribution to their respective gross domestic products. As a result, these countries could be missing opportunities for economic and social revival.

On social media, Habitat’s various national organizations in the Asia-Pacific region promoted the livestream, key findings of the Cornerstone report, relevant housing data, and the webinar panelists. Other content including videos, stories, and photos were also shared.

A summary of some related activities is given below:

• In an opinion-editorial, Rajan Samuel, managing director of Habitat India, homed in on the vulnerable Irula tribal community and their critical need for housing. In tackling land tenure and housing, he advocated partnering with the Indian government and community-based organizations and actively engaging the community.
• A webinar organized by Habitat Nepal was well-received by 85 participants including local town officials. The event also helped to connect the policymakers and the youth, who were positioned as changemakers in addressing issues related to COVID-19 and housing.
• Habitat Singapore’s event, Cycle Out Poverty, raised almost S$18,000 (about US$13,100) to build homes for vulnerable families on Indonesia’s Batam Island.
• In Hong Kong, Habitat worked with a corporate partner, Raze, in raising awareness and funding support for the former’s home sanitizing projects.
• Habitat Philippines aligned their fundraising campaign, Together We Rise, with Urban October celebrations. Together with Habitat’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter, they hosted ‘BAHAYnihan: Rising Together through Housing,’ an online forum to raise awareness of the housing needs of the country and its unserved population, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The secretary of the Philippines’ Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development, Eduardo Del Rosario, led panelists from key housing organizations in the country. A new report, “Impact of COVID-19 on the low-income housing market systems in the Philippines” was also launched at the event.

Marking International Volunteer Day in the year 2020 will be different, not least because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. While the health and economic crises have profoundly affected the way Habitat for Humanity operates, the positive impact of volunteers continues. In Japan, where Habitat has been mobilizing volunteers since 2001, some supporters share their stories.

Mami Maruyama had always been interested in international volunteering. Then a freshman, she took action after hearing Habitat campus chapter members share about their enjoyable Global Village experiences. “I thought, ‘if I join the campus chapter, I could gain broader perspectives from the members,’ ” says Mami, 33. Her first overseas volunteering trip was to India in the summer of 2006 with another build in Bangladesh.

“As a program, Global Village is sustainable and I can understand why it is needed,” says Mami who is currently a volunteer coordinator with Habitat Japan. By sharing their stories, Habitat volunteers encourage their friends and others to join the Global Village program. Working alongside volunteers, future homeowners demonstrate self-reliance by contributing their ‘sweat’ equity, or own labor. After gaining construction skills, some homeowners go on to help others in their community to build homes.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly curtailed volunteer activity, Habitat volunteers can take advantage of the pause. They can focus on housing issues in Japan to realize Habitat’s vision of a world everyone has a decent place to live, Mami suggests. “No matter when the GV program resumes, there are always housing issues in Japan. Habitat Japan should keep or even develop the current Project HomeWorks to respond to vulnerable individuals in need of decent homes. It would be great if Habitat Japan can extend a helping hand when the next big disaster happens.”

Like many campus chapter members, Chika Tagawa, 21, supports Habitat Japan because of an interest in overseas builds. With the suspension of volunteer builds, she thinks it may be difficult to sustain campus chapters’ interest. But local volunteering activities provide an opportunity to raise awareness of the housing issues in one’s own home country.

Project HomeWorks has changed her thinking, Chika says of the program that mobilizes volunteers to improve the living conditions of vulnerable people in Japan. “Before getting involved, it seemed like housing issues were someone else’s problem. Through communicating with the homeowners, I realized that anyone could face such problems.”

“I think this pandemic is our chance to realize and appreciate that home is where we can live comfortably. I do have a regret that I’m not able accomplish my goals for this year. But it has been a precious time for me to rethink the importance of having a decent place to live.”

Chika reminisced about the first and last time — before Global Village builds were put on hold — she worked on a house in Indonesia in 2019. “During the trip, I felt I received more than what I gave to the homeowner family and the people in the community. This is why most Global Village teams shared their experiences with others, to give something back to the community, so that more could join the program to build decent homes.”

According to Mami, Japan needs to address issues such as rebuilding homes after natural disasters, homelessness, and an increase in vacant houses in the suburbs. She did her part by coordinating volunteers in Habitat’s response to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan as well as the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake response.

While not all campus chapter members can afford to go on a Global Village trip, they may also find it hard to take time off after joining the workforce. Mami shares: “As a campus chapter alumni, I would like to help solve housing issues in Japan. There are also many alumni who would like to contribute to their local communities. If more and more campus chapter alumni can join Habitat Japan again, we can expand our network to reach more people in need of decent homes in this country.”

One such alumnus is Ryota Matsumoto, 23, who described himself as a ‘retired’ campus chapter member. He was a freshman in the University of Tsukuba when he had his first taste of a Global Village build. Recalling his 2018 experience in Myanmar, he says: “Everyone — homeowner family, people in the community, international volunteers — worked hard together toward the same goal. It built a strong connection and that was most memorable for me.” He was among 74 volunteers from Japan who took part in Asia Build 2018 under the Habitat Young Leaders Build campaign.

In sharing their experiences and learnings from Global Village builds, campus chapter members helped to inspire a new generations of youth volunteers. With the suspension of volunteer builds, Habitat Japan’s connection with campus chapters may be affected, Ryota notes. To cement ties, he suggested that Habitat Japan raises awareness of how youth can be involved in its program and discuss collaboration opportunities with campus chapters. “To overcome these challenging times, the connection or relationship between Habitat Japan and campus chapters should be solid to continue the mission.”

The weaving loom that is Senghouch’s means of livelihood fits nicely into a sheltered space outside her home on stilts. It was not always like this.

With her weaving skills, she could earn some money to supplement the US$150 month wages of her husband Cheat, 32, a steel factory worker. But the lack of a decent, spacious home made it almost impossible for her to weave traditional fabric for making dresses.

“The house was messy and cramped. Because of that, my husband and I would feel stressed, which led to bitter arguments,” says Senghouch, 27, whose family of four lives in Kandal province, Cambodia. That was back in early 2019.

In addition, her two children, then 5 years old and 6 months respectively, could hardly move around the house safely. Heavy rains and strong winds would rock their house, causing them sleepless nights and leaving holes in the walls and roof that had to be repaired regularly. Besides using the toilet in her mother’s house which was 30 meters away, they could also get water to bring back to their place.

In March 2019, Senghouch and Cheat took the step of becoming Habitat homeowners, leaving their inadequate living conditions behind. They were among 36 families who have built new homes with Habitat for Humanity Cambodia in a Dutch-funded project. Another 46 families gained access to safe sanitation through latrines built while over 8,400 primary students were trained in hygienic and sanitation practices.

With the help of Habitat skilled workers, the couple were able to build a durable home with their own toilet with sufficient space for the weaving loom. The family moved into their new house in Puk Russey commune, Khsach Kandal district, in May 2019. Having a place that they could proudly call their own has improved their family life.

“My husband and I can now have a proper conversation. We both felt secure having our own home. This lessened the stress,” says Senghouch. Now that she can work comfortably at home, she can earn up to US$40 for each swathe of fabric woven.

In the first six months after moving into their new home, she noted that her two children did not have diarrhea as often as before. It helps that her family, along with others in the project, attended training in water, sanitation and hygiene conducted by Habitat Cambodia.

Seeing Senghouch weaving at home has led her daughter Mengchou to take an interest in weaving. “I am happy to see my children thrive in our new home. I hope they can grow up well and have proper education.”

She is looking forward to saving money to set up a small business with her husband. “It could be a steel workshop or a tailor shop,” she shares.

Since 2003, Habitat Cambodia has served more than 90,000 families including Senghouch’s by the end of the financial year on June 30, 2019. Visit habitatcambodia.org or follow facebook.com/HabitatCambodia1/ to find out more.