Habitat World Online


Jong Rok Lee, his wife Moon Soon Sun and their children worked with volunteers during the Jimmy Carter Work Project 2001 in the Republic of Korea to build their accessible Habitat house.

Meeting Special Needs (continued)

"For me as a handicapped person to own an adjusted house means to have a dwelling with all the comforts, so that I can cease being handicapped," Stefanski says.

At 567 square feet, the Polewski's new Habitat house is not large by U.S. standards, but there are ramps providing access to the front and garden doors and enough space for Dominika to exercise. She has already begun to crawl.

"They take tremendous effort in attending all possible rehabilitation courses," says Król. "The mother is a nurse--she really cares about this. The hope exists that Dominika will walk--which is our prayer, too."

Thousands of miles away, in the village of Xiang Haian in China, a similar story of hope has taken place. Xiang Haian was organized in 1953 to consolidate some 400 people with leprosy from five counties. Victims of fear and isolation as much as the disease, the villagers rarely had visitors.

"In history, leprosy couldn't be easily treated, but it could spread very fast," says Peter Liu, program manager in Yunnan province. "So leprosy villages were generally built in remote and isolated places, and non-leprosy people dared not to get in touch with them. Now, when leprosy can be easily cured, people living in this village don't have a proper cultural base for their development, and people from outside still are not willing to get in touch with them."


In Nsinda village in Uganda, leprosy survivors team up to complete sweat-equity hours for their Habitat houses.

In 2002, the 32 remaining villagers of Xiang Haian had severe housing needs, and a partnership was established between Habitat for Humanity International, American Leprosy Missions, Project Grace International, Yunnan Province Disabled Persons' Federation and the Luquan County Skin Disease Prevention Station. Over the course of three months, more than 200 foreign and local volunteers replaced 13 roofs, patched and plastered walls in 20 houses, installed a complete village water/waste drainage system, constructed a 13-unit dwelling to replace the most dilapidated houses and built a public toilet and shower facility. The showers are connected to a solar-powered heating unit, offering villagers the novel experience of a hot shower.

Yet, even with the substantial physical improvements made in the village, it was the love shown by volunteers that may have made the biggest impact.

"It was inspiring to the villagers to see so many people from near and far come to work with them side by side," says Valerie Mamara, new country developer for Habitat. "I believe we broke down many barriers between the people of Xiang Haian and their neighbors. They were encouraged and strengthened by the number of people who truly demonstrated love to them. You could see the light in their eyes and smiles on their faces 10 times more than before."

Yang Mo-da, a 56-year-old man who lives in the village, put it simply: "I can feel God's love. I can live in a clean place."

In the United States, a world away from Poland and China, a similar hunger for connection and community has drawn together a family of like-minded organizations in New Orleans, La. The Arc of Greater New Orleans, the Eugenie and Joseph Jones Family Foundation and HFH-New Orleans teamed up to build a house with Carol Newman, whose adult son is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Newman was living in a one-bedroom apartment, sleeping on the couch so her daughter and granddaughter could sleep on the bed, while her son lived at an adult-care facility. For this family, living in a Habitat house means they all will be able to sleep under one roof.

But the family isn't the only group positively impacted by the partnership. The opportunity to volunteer provided the mental health community a chance to learn new skills, build self-esteem and--most importantly--be inspired.

"It's a hard life to live in," says Jim Pate, executive director of HFH-New Orleans. "There's not a lot of hope sometimes. So if one of their members can build and live in a Habitat house, it means a tremendous lot to the community. That's what our houses are--a tangible symbol of hope and new life."

Wang Ru-yin lives in Xiang Haian and is weak and disabled from the effects of leprosy. However, thinking back to the emotions she felt as she watched volunteers repair her house, she reflected on the purpose behind Habitat's innovative partnerships to meet special needs: "I can feel that people outside still remember us, and we are still part of the big community."