"We Had to Make a Change"
By Patrick Irian Arruchz

Living in a house made of bush materials, Kaisu Magia longed for a better life for her children.


In October 2000, Kaisu Magia submitted the final payment on her Habitat for Humanity house five years ahead of schedule. Kaisu and her three children live in the village of Moruruo, which is served by Nuselang HFH affiliate in Papua New Guinea.

In 1995, Kaisu had been widowed for five years and was raising a son, Diangta, 15, and daughters Dopiu, 10, and Florence, 5. The Magia family lived in a traditional village house constructed of “bush” materials—grasses, leaves and light wood from the forest around the village. While providing shelter from the elements, such houses are labor intensive as weather and wear quickly deteriorate the fragile materials. Traditional bush houses are poorly ventilated, trapping smoke from the indoor cooking fire and leading to respiratory ailments and complications such as pulmonary infections, asthma and general ill health. Sickness is also carried in the walls, roof and floor of the house, a result of rodents and insects living within the vegetation.

Even so, Kaisu and her family were daunted by the prospect of constructing a Habitat house and being responsible for payments every month. “We were afraid that we would not be able to make the mortgage payments without my husband to help us,” Kaisu says. “But I took stock of my life, realized we had to make a change and gathered my family together for a long talk.” In the end, the Magia family agreed to take on the responsibility in August 1995.

Habitat houses in Papua New Guinea are constructed of timber harvested from the homeowners’ own land. Just a week after making her deposit, Kaisu had selected five trees to be used in the construction of her 16-by-24-foot house. “Our home was completed and dedicated two months later,” she remembers. “When I received the keys to my house, I was also given a Holy Bible. It was that Bible that reminded me that this house was a gift from God.

“In the following five years, we worked hard trying to earn as much money as possible so we could pay off the cost of our house,” says Kaisu, who, like others in her village, grows coffee and vegetables. Kaisu and her family planted and harvested their coffee crop and grew extra vegetables to raise the funds to pay off their Habitat for Humanity mortgage. “We also received assistance from our close relatives and the village who contributed to help pay off our mortgage,” she says.

One of the most valuable gifts Kaisu has received as a Habitat homeowner is the belief that she can help others.

“Because my family and I have received this assistance, I now accept for myself the challenge to do all I can to assist other families who do not have decent homes,” she says. “Then those families should help others and the cycle goes on.”


Snapshot
Kaisu Magia, Moruruo, Papua New Guinea
House description: 16-by-24-foot house on stilts, built of timber harvested from Kaisu Magia’s lot.
Moved in: 1995
Total amount of mortgage: $1,240
Monthly payment: $7
Paid off in: 2000


Patrick Irian Arruchz is an affiliate developer for Habitat for Humanity Papua New Guinea.


Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, April/May 2001.
This article may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
©2001 Habitat for Humanity International