Photo: a women and two children from Zambia sitting on stairs in front of their house

Stories from Africa

We work to empower low-income people in Africa to build a better life for themselves and their children. We help not only through shelter programs but also through developing affordable housing products and services. In areas affected by droughts, we deliver water and sanitation solutions.

Africa has vast opportunities and resources, yet too many people still live in substandard housing conditions. We want to help change this together with our partners and volunteers.

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Photo: Two women and a child in front of a newly constructed latrine

A toilet is not just a toilet

When residents from the Dida-Yaokro and Chickwawa communities constructed toilets, their health improved, the school attendance increased and the environment got cleaner.

Photo: Evelyn with her Singer sewing machine which was included in her startup toolkit

Uganda can count on its youth

Sixty-five percent of the Ugandan population is made up of young people. Like Susan, they have enormous potential. Habitat helps them to develop their talents.

Photo: Lucy in her kitchen. Colorful dishes tidied up in the cupboard behind her.

Believing in Lucy

Life had been unimaginably hard after Lucy’s mother died nine years ago. Her dad had died a year earlier. Lucy, only in the seventh grade at the time, quit school to raise her younger brothers - Bornface and Gift.

Expanding Water Access in Tanzania

Sangara village residents in Tanzania pioneer a new solution that allows them to expand their water network. Their water points now pump water by solar energy.

Photo: a family with 5 children, a new wall of their future house in the background

How Many People Can Fit in 90 m2?

Dwellers of Habib Ayad House in Sakakrya village are not able to sleep at the same time because of overcrowding. While half of them are sleeping at night, the other half go to work in bakeries.

colorful house in Kenya surrounded by trees build with help of micro loans

How Kenyan women are changing their lives

Mrs Muthengi, who is 32, will be hosting Christmas this year for the first time in her life in her own house: “There will be new shoes, new clothes, goat and chicken to eat.”

Safe and secure

“Not even in my dreams did I imagine living in a house like this,” Jika told us after she moved from an unsafe mud hut to a new Habitat home.

The Water of Life

Kauma Village is an informal settlement of over 33,000 people who live on the outskirts of Lillongwe, Malawi’s capital. In Kauma, many people lack basic water and sanitation facilities, as it falls outside the government’s services.

Photo: Grace at the temporary shelter after floods in Malawi

The plight of Grace

Grace January suddenly heard people shouting ‘Water! Water! Water!‘ Her house was taken by flood in the aftermath of the Cyclone Idai. Help her to rebuild it.