2,455 Sri Lankan families to benefit from the house-building component of a 14-million-euro grant
MANILA (March 13, 2017) — Driven by youth, the Habitat Young Leaders Build campaign has drawn a steady stream of supporters through builds and various activities in the Asia-Pacific region.
Habitat for Humanity Myanmar is currently hosting its first HYLB volunteer team who is building bamboo homes with families in need of decent housing. The volunteers, who are members of Habitat Japan’s campus chapters, also took time off construction to teach local students about handwashing and other hygienic practices.
Volunteers who worked elsewhere in the region have shared their experiences. Wonho Na, who studies at the Seoul National University, was part of a Global Village team who built in the Habitat village in Bantayan island, the Philippines. “Individuals have various talents. The experience you get through sharing your talents at the building site is priceless. This experience has helped me rediscover the dreams that I had forgotten, and I believe it will be of a great help in realizing my dreams.”
In a separate build in Bantayan, several Scouts worked with families to build a house. The volunteers, based in Taiwan, are from the Far East Council of Boy Scouts of America. They were joined by their Philippine counterparts. Their service was also in memory of the late Anthony Faseler, a fellow Scout and Habitat volunteer.
Throughout the HYLB campaign which peaks on April 22, Scouts Builds will be held in other countries such as Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
In western India, about 350 students and staff of Sacred Heart School built for a day with Habitat families in Jambulwadi village, Karjat.
Separately, over 600 students from various schools learned about the need for adequate housing as well as to end open defecation in awareness raising activities organized on various school campuses. The students came from Millennium School in Bhatinda Punjab, Podar International School CIE in Nerul, Maharashtra, and Sunrise International School in Badlapur.
In mid-January, Habitat supporters ran in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, speaking out for decent housing and raising 18 million rupees (more than US$26,000) for Habitat for Humanity India.
Over in Nepal, 98 volunteers from MetLife Nepal contributed over 500 hours for a three-day volunteer trip to build houses with families in Pipaltar village, Kavrepalanchok district who were affected by the 2015 earthquake.
Through Habitat Fiji’s “Build Back Safer” program, youth volunteers are supporting HYLB by helping to build a home with a cyclone-affected family in Nasinu village, Levuka. Eighteen-year-old Maria Lewatina from Tokou village explained why she chose to volunteer. “As a youth, I would like to contribute and do something good for my community. The opportunity was there, through Habitat, so I am glad to be part of this. It is good to have construction knowledge because it is very expensive hiring someone to build your house.”
In Hong Kong, singer and Habitat ambassador Wilfred Lau has started calling for volunteers to join a build that will be held in Guangdong, China, from April 21 to 23.
Connect with like-minded supporters for the Habitat Young Leaders Build by joining bit.ly/HabitatYLB and following twitter.com/HabitatYLB.