Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea
March 7–18, 2010
Help build houses and hope while getting to know the people and places of Papua New Guinea! No construction experience is required.
About Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea consists of a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. Papua New Guinea includes the eastern half of the island of New Guinea, which borders Indonesia.
The climate is tropical year-round, with a northwest monsoon season (December to March) and a southeast monsoon season (May to October), with slight seasonal temperature variation. The country is mostly mountainous with coastal lowlands and rolling foothills. As of 2008, nearly 6 million people live in Papua New Guinea.
About HFH Papua New Guinea
Habitat for Humanity Papua New Guinea was formed in 1983 in Port Moresby, and moved to Lae, the second-largest city. There are now seven affiliates at work within the country.
In Pacific Island nations such as Papua New Guinea, the indigenous communities own more than 80 percent of the land. Hence, Habitat uses the Community Build housing microfinance model to involve an entire village or neighborhood in a house-building or renovation program. In Papua New Guinea where land and raw materials are owned by an entire village and two or three families share one house, Community Build helps to leverage resources and reduce housing costs.
Habitat also uses the Save & Build model in which 10 to 12 families form a savings group to save for the cost of building houses and construction materials. Home partners are also expected to put in their own labor to build their own houses as well as those of others in the group. Savings groups are also functioning in Lae as part of an official urban housing program.
Types of construction for volunteers
A typical Habitat house in Papua New Guinea is made of timber with a corrugated metal sheet roof. Due to heavy rains, the house is raised on stilts a meter or more off the ground to keep it dry. The area under the house is used for storage, community gatherings and livestock. Habitat encourages home partners to cut and mill their own timber from their land. To ensure sustainability, Habitat has developed a reforestation project; two trees are planted for every tree used for a Habitat house.
Global Village teams will help build one of four types of houses built in Papua New Guinea and could be involved in many levels of construction.
Tentative itinerary
Friday and Saturday, March 5–6: Travel days as needed.
Sunday, March 7: Team meets in Port Moresby, PNG; travel to Mount Morgan.
Monday, March 8: Welcome by local affiliate; work site orientation; begin house building!
Tuesday, March 9–Friday, March 12: House building; cultural activities in the evenings (e.g., visits to schools, hospitals, local attractions, etc.).
Saturday, March 13: House building in the morning; day of relaxation and local sightseeing.
Sunday, March 14: Day of relaxation and local sightseeing.
Monday, March 15–Tuesday, March 16: House building; cultural activities in the evenings (e.g., visits to schools, hospitals, local attractions, etc.).
Wednesday, March 17: House building; dedication ceremony; return to Port Moresby.
Thursday, March 18: Depart for home.
Accommodations
Accommodations will be in a small, local hotel where team members will share rooms. People in the community will prepare the team’s meals, so we will truly experience the local cuisine.
Cost
$1,910
Trip cost includes: donation to the Habitat host program and HFHI; meals; accommodations; transport (excluding trip participant air fare); medical emergency evacuation and trip cancellation insurance; some local cultural activities; team coordination and orientation materials. The team leader’s trip cost and estimated air fare may be included in the trip budget. The trip cost does not include trip participant air fare, R&R activities or visa and exit fees (not applicable for all destinations).
Team Leader
Danielle Riley is a seasoned Global Village veteran who has participated in a GV trip to Honduras and has led teams to Mexico, Tanzania, Armenia, Botswana, Kyrgyzstan and Cameroon. She is looking forward to putting together a team that is fun-loving, hard-working and culturally accepting.
If you are interested in joining the team or for more information, please contact her at danielle@riley.com or 212-875-0012.