Ambassador of Qatar meets with Habitat for Humanity in New Orleans

On Friday, May 12, 2006, Qatar's ambassador to the United States, H.E. Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, visited New Orleans to meet with grant recipients of the first phase of a $100 million gift from the people of the state of Qatar to support Hurricane Katrina recovery.

Habitat for Humanity International was among six recipients of funding from the portion of the gift that has been allocated so far. The $22 million gift to Habitat will go toward the organization's Operation Home Delivery hurricane response program to build 153 houses in Louisiana, 107 houses in Mississippi and 33 houses in Alabama.

Ambassador Al-Khalifa toured damaged areas of New Orleans prior to meeting with the grant recipients and said that he was particularly struck by the housing damage he saw. "Each destroyed house represents a family whose life has been affected," he said.

The ambassador said that housing is a priority in his country and he respects Habitat for Humanity's efforts to make housing a priority not just in the United States but worldwide. Part of the state of Qatar's decision to give money to Habitat for Humanity was based on the organization's international work as well as its Gulf Coast building.

"We are all witnesses [of Hurricane Katrina's destruction], and because we witness, we have responsibilities," said Ambassador Al-Khalifa of Qatar's decision to send aid to the Gulf region. "We are all part of one unified human race."

Other recipients of funding through the first phase of Qatar's gift are Tulane University, Louisiana State University, Xavier University, the March of Dimes and the Children's Hospital of New Orleans, which hosted Friday's meeting.