HIGHLIGHTS 2006 Building houses, building hope For 30 years, Habitat for Humanity (HFH) has been working around the world to help the marginalized, the poor and those devastated by natural disaster to live in dignity and safety in a home of their own.
In 2006, HFH China worked on various projects to help those in needs in Mainland China and Hong Kong, as well as to support the disasterresponse tasks in the Asia Pacific region. We would like to share with you some of our remarkable programs in the year 2006:
Guangdong – Post-flood Rehabilitation Project
This is a project to construct 110 houses using Post-flood Rehabilitation model of HFH to provide decent shelters for people whose houses were destroyed by flood in four villages in Quijiang (曲江) district, Shaoguan (韶關). HFH China Guangdong Project Office is the implementing office, with partnerships formed with Communist Youth League (CYL), Rural Credit Cooperatives (RCC) in Shaoguan, local government officials and village staff.
disaster relief grant of total RMB200,000 was allocated to support 28 families which had more difficulty in repaying the loans. The farmers will repay the loans in five years, and both the CYL and the RCC will assist in monitoring the loan repayment throughout the project period. The project commenced from September 2006 and was completed in January 2007. The families moved to live in their new houses at the beginning of the year. On January 24, a dedication ceremony was held at the village. Representatives from HFH China, CYL, RCC and corporate sponsors of this project gathered together and shared the joy of the village families.
A total of RMB850,000 as Save and Build Housing Loan, was allocated to support the house building cost for 82 households. A 1
HIGHLIGHTS 2006 Butuo County (布拖縣) – House Rebuilding and Training
HFH China has began its collaboration with Amity Foundation on this special project, aiming to improve the living and hygienic conditions of a poor rural community in Butuo County(布拖縣) of Liangshan Yi Minority Autonomous Prefecture(涼山彝族自治州), located in southwest of Sichuan Province (四川 省). This project consists of two components: 1) House Rebuilding - This will help 62 rural families to rebuild houses. Each household will have one house of 72 m2 constructed with brick and wood, one courtyard of 30m2 with cement flooring and a livestock shed. Two years later, these families will repay part of the grant to provide micro-finance loan to the other 80 poor families in the community for improving their planting and animal husbandry.
2) Training - 2,000 person-time of training will be provided for the rural families, including
planting, animal husbandry, hygienic knowledge, disease prevention and livestock diseases treatment. This series of training and the micro-finance loans will help farmers to build selfdevelopment capacity, improve their techniques and health awareness, and eventually increase their economic income. The construction of houses and livestock sheds has begun in September 2006. The training project will last for one year from September 2006 to September 2007.
Hong Kong – Home Safety and Improvement Program
The Home Safety and Improvement Program recruited unemployed maintenance workers to provide household renovation and safety enhancement services for elderly people living alone in public housing estates. Not only has the Program improved the living standard of the elderly and reduced the danger of home
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HIGHLIGHTS 2006 accidents, it has also created job opportunities for unemployed maintenance workers. Partnering with local social enterprise providers including the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association, St. James’ Settlement and Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, HFH China launched this Program in 2006, and has already served more than 130 households in old public housing estates, such as Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate and Wah Fu Estate. We plan to extend our efforts in the coming future.
Tsunami-recovery Projects Part of the funds raised by HFH China went to support Habitat’s tsunami-recovery projects. In the two years since the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami, Habitat for Humanity has assisted nearly 10,000 families with permanent housing. Habitat has built, repaired and rehabilitated houses with tsunami-affected families in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
For details, please refer to the separate pages regarding our tsunami-recovery work.
Gala Benefit Dinner
At our 2005 Gala Benefit Dinner, HFH China raised over HK$5.3 million net for Habitat’s programs in Asia-Pacific including tsunami reconstruction efforts. Our Benefit Committee was recognized as one of the most dedicated Habitat Volunteers from Asia-Pacific Region, and received the Nehemiah Award for their brilliant teamwork in organizing the event. The Benefit Committee is now organizing the 2007 Gala Benefit Dinner, to be held on April 27, 2007 at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Please come and give your support!
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HIGHLIGHTS 2006 Weir, vice president for Habitat’s Asia-Pacific operations.
Two Years After The Indian Ocean Tsunami… Habitat for Humanity has assisted 10,000 families to build permanent housing.
“By facilitating development of constructionrelated businesses as well as providing training and employment for build sites, we’ve contributed more to the recovery than the
Tsunami Project Highlights – Focus on Housing And Community Development In the two years since the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami, Habitat for Humanity has assisted nearly 10,000 families with permanent housing. Habitat has built, repaired and rehabilitated houses with tsunami-affected families in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. “At the same time that we have been building houses we have also been building capacity in the Habitat national organizations in these four countries. A transition process is under way to our regular programs, and we will continue to work with communities where poverty is entrenched and housing is often threatened by earthquakes and cyclones, floods and landslides,” said Steve
merely house structures,” said Weir. Habitat’s community-based disaster response model encourages participation by village leaders and affected families. In a year that saw the dedication of Habitat’s 1,000th tsunami-recovery house in Venamulla, Sri Lanka, and the 2,600th in Aceh, Indonesia, Habitat focused on projects that included livelihood opportunities and community development. At Habitat resource centers in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, tsunamiaffected people have found new jobs producing concrete blocks, septic rings, door frames and window frames and other building components for the rebuilding effort. A highlight of the latter part of the year was the visit of former U.S. President and Habitat volunteer Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter to Habitat tsunami projects in India and Thailand. The Carters took two days out of the week of the Jimmy Carter Work Project in India, 30th October through 3rd 4
HIGHLIGHTS 2006 November, to bring awareness to the tsunamirecovery housing reconstruction. Thailand Habitat for Humanity started its tsunamirecovery work in Phang Nga province, the area hardest hit and Krabi. To date, it has housed more than 700 tsunami-affected families. As part of the transition to a regular repayment program, Habitat has begun recruiting families to join a Save & Build microfinance housing scheme. In addition to new houses, the program will include repairs and rehabilitations.
India Habitat for Humanity is working in affected coastal communities of the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The response has included construction of villages to relocate fishing families as well as repairs and renovation of many houses that are vulnerable to cyclone damage. In most communities, Habitat works in partnership with a local or national non-governmental organization to provide the housing component of a comprehensive community development plan. Sri Lanka
Indonesia
In Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the tsunami, Habitat’s disaster-response project sites in Banda Aceh and North Aceh are wrapping-up their tsunami-reconstruction efforts by year’s end. Building continues in Meulaboh and other west coast communities. Destruction of roads, bridges and other infrastructure and the high demand for labor and materials have made it difficult to work on the west coast. All together more than 3,500 families have been served.
Habitat’s tsunami-recovery response encompasses coastal communities from Hikkaduwa to Matara on the southern coast and on the east from Trincomalee to Pottuvil and Arugam Bay. The 1,000th tsunami-recovery house constructed in Sri Lanka was dedicated in August of 2006. Habitat continues to build near Trincomalee and Batticaloa, areas affected by ethnic violence; however, the safety of staff and home partners calls for extreme vigilance and caution.
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HIGHLIGHTS 2006 For more information on Habitat for Humanity’s response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, visit www.habitat.org/ap. For more on the strategy behind the response see the 18-month report at http://www.habitat.org/ap/tsunami/18mont h/default.aspx.
About Habitat for Humanity International Habitat for Humanity International is a global non-governmental organization that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in the USA in 1976, Habitat has built more than 200,000 houses in dozens of countries, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than one million people with homes they helped build and which they have paid for with affordable, non-profit loans.
About Hong Kong Benefit Dinner 2005 In 2005 Habitat for Humanity’s Hong Kong office raised over HK$5.3million in just one night at our Gala Benefit Dinner. Major donors in 2005 included Citigroup, Coca Cola, DOW Chemical, Esprit, Piaget and PMI. These funds went to support tsunami projects in Sri Lanka and Thailand throughout the Indian Ocean region, towards the Hong Kong Home Safety and Improvement Program, Mainland China and Vanuatu housing projects,
and disaster relief projects following Pakistan’s earthquake.
About Jimmy Carter Work Project Former US President Jimmy Carter started his involvement with Habitat for Humanity International in 1984 when he led a work group to New York City to help renovate a six-story building with 19 families in need of decent, affordable shelter. That experience planted the seed, and the Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP) has been an internationally recognized event of HFH International ever since. Each year, Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter give a week of their time — along with their construction skills — to build homes and raise awareness of the critical need for affordable housing. The JCWP is held at a different location each year, and attracts volunteers from around the world. JCWP 2006 took place in Lonavala, India , during Oct. 29-Nov. 3rd, 2006.
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HIGHLIGHTS 2006 About Global Village Volunteer Program The Global Village volunteer program consists of short-term house-building trips designed to give concerned people the opportunity to observe and contribute to Habitat’s work first hand. Working alongside homeowners and local volunteers, team members build a true “global village” of love, homes, families, communities and hope!
Contact us at: Habitat for Humanity China 3/F SPA Centre, 55 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong Tel.: (852) 2858-2099 Fax: (852) 2858-2091 Email: juliana@habitatchina.org Website: www.habitatchina.org
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