BANGKOK, Thailand, April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- One hundred days after the
Indian Ocean tsunami, as many villagers are observing rites of mourning and
remembrance, Habitat for Humanity is building and repairing houses and
operating technical centers to benefit an estimated 30,000 to 35,000 families
in tsunami-affected areas of India, Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Habitat
worked in all four countries before the disaster, but is scaling up to provide
significant numbers of permanent houses during a two-year reconstruction
program.
Nearly US$39 million has been raised to fund Habitat's tsunami recovery
effort. The organization has set a new fund-raising target of US$50 million,
which will allow many more families to be helped. Corporations, institutions
and individuals continue to donate money and gifts-in-kind to fund Habitat's
plans.
"We are committed to moving families out of camps and into permanent
housing as quickly as possible," said Steve Weir, vice president for Habitat's
Asia-Pacific area. "We are aiming to help reconstruct communities as well as
homes, so we are partnering with other organizations that specialize in
livelihood development so that we can concentrate on what we do best, building
proper homes."
"A key piece of Habitat's rebuilding plan is a network of 10 'Disaster
Response Technical Centers,' which help build construction capacity," said
Weir. Experts at the centers and at their satellite operations on building
sites teach construction skills and supervise production of materials such as
bricks, concrete blocks and roofing tiles.
"Disaster Response Technical centers are designed to be flexible with each
center emphasizing different activities depending on local needs," Weir said.
"We particularly want to equip people to help themselves, to build their own
houses. That will enable more families to get out of temporary shelter and
into proper homes quickly."
After the tsunami rebuilding phase ends, the centers will continue to be a
community resource providing building materials and opportunities for training
and income generation. "We'll leverage them to make an even greater impact in
the future," Weir commented.
Centers are operating in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, in Phang Nga, Thailand,
and in Kanyakumari, India. Others, including three in Indonesia's Aceh
province, and in Galle, Sri Lanka, are due to open in the next few months.
Habitat's strategy also includes teams of skilled construction volunteers
known as "First Builders" working alongside local Habitat volunteers, staff
and soon-to-be homeowners. Early First Builder teams to Sri Lanka and Thailand
came from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States.
"An important aspect of the First Builders program is to bring people with
expertise who are self sufficient and who can cope with living and working in
difficult conditions," said Weir. "Dozens of teams are scheduled for the
coming months." When living conditions in the communities allow, Habitat for
Humanity will encourage its "Global Village" volunteers to assist in
reconstruction.
Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry
dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. By the end of 2005, Habitat will
have built its 200,000th house and more than one million people will be living
in Habitat homes they helped build and are buying through no-profit, zero-
interest mortgages. There is no cost to tsunami-affected families for
Habitat's housing assistance. For more information, see http://www.hfhap.org
and http://www.habitat.org .
SOURCE Habitat for Humanity
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Related links:
http://www.habitat.org
http://www.hfhap.org
CONTACT:
Jennifer Lindsey of Habitat for Humanity,
+1-301-408-2716, or cell, +1-202-270-2030, or jlindsey@hfhi.org
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