(Hope on the Horizon continued)

Constant Communication
Substandard housing sprouts in areas of civil unrest like mushrooms after a summer rain. Housing providers, such as Habitat for Humanity, feel keenly the urgency to move families into decent shelter, yet the government instability inherent in civil unrest dictates caution.

For example, when Habitat Kyrgyzstan began its work in 1999, it was the beginning also of a long, tedious effort to win the trust of local residents and government. Requests for land initially were ignored; only the discovery that Habitat was broadly supported internationally persuaded the government to contribute lots for building. Local residents thought an organization that helped people build houses for no profit sounded too good to be true and were suspicious.

"HFH Kyrgyzstan staff had to do explanations individually to the neighbors of the construction site and to people who were endlessly coming to the office," says Nargiza Kydykova, a Habitat resource developer in Kyrgyzstan. "We were regularly giving information to media to raise public awareness."

Slowly, the constant, consistent communication began to pay off. Kyrgyzstan's president visited a build site in 2002 for the dedication of the first 20 houses and provided much-needed money--1 million soms (US$25,000)--for infrastructure, roads and electricity. The city pledged land for 10 more houses at the dedication. In early 2005, a government decree was ready to be signed by the president which would have reduced Habitat Kyrgyzstan's tax liability, saving hundreds of dollars per house, and would have smoothed the organization's way through a gauntlet of bureaucratic approvals necessary to build.

But in March 2005, revolution swept Kyrgyzstan. A new president and prime minister were installed, and the old agreements were declared invalid. In a frustrating setback, the new government took back the land pledged to Habitat Kyrgyzstan in 2002. In December 2006, staff members were still working to regain possession of the building plots.

The instability pulled Kyrgyzstan's fledgling tourist industry up short, and there were no Habitat Global Village teams in 2005 to provide essential cash for materials or fresh hope for weary staff. The groundwork of trust, so painstakingly laid with the previous government, must be laid again with the new leadership. Yet for Habitat Kyrgyzstan, as for programs in other areas, giving up would mean leaving struggling families to fend for themselves. "They (the new government) are very careful in supporting organizations that before had support from the previous government," Kydykova says. "We try to show them that we are beyond politics and we are just helping people in need. Fortunately more and more of the population know about Habitat, but it is the government who makes decisions and gives instructions to other state authorities."

Regional conflicts can have the same impact as turmoil within a country. In southern Lebanon, the recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah destroyed or damaged an estimated 100,000 homes. The U.S. Agency for International Development committed almost US$2 million to Habitat for Humanity International to respond to the disaster, and Habitat Lebanon's initial efforts will focus on 100 families in 15 communities in four provinces. The two-pronged approach not only will help these 1,500 families repair or rebuild their homes, but it also will create opportunities for families of different faiths to rebuild their communities together. Through partnering with organizations already established there, Habitat hopes to help meet physical needs for housing so the residents can work together on their mutual emotional needs for security.

Homes Away from Homes
For a variety of reasons, many Dukwi refugees are not yet able to consider such reconciliation. Kevin Mavhunga arrived in Botswana on Dec. 20, 2002-he remembers the exact date. He still hopes to return to Zimbabwe one day--"I miss my four children most," he says--but he perceives the political situation there still to be too unsettled for his safety.

Other families feel similarly. "We will go back when the situation is stable," says Victor Dikhoma of his home country of Namibia. He and his wife Nyama and their 9-year-old daughter Felicity have lived in Dukwi since 1998. They lived in a single small tent until 2002, when they built their Habitat house.

"Life has improved from before, in the tent," says Dikhoma. "It is better to live in a house than a tent. We are safer, and our property is protected against the rain, against theft."

Vasco Mahoto also arrived in Dukwi from Namibia in 1998, and he completed his Habitat house around the same time as his neighbors, the Dikhomas. He is glad to be out of a tent and says his Habitat house "protects from rain, from winter, from heavy winds, from termites." Around his house, he has built a wooden fence and created a charming, homey compound.

Nonetheless, he says, he would like to return to Namibia "as soon as possible."

It seems all of the residents of Dukwi are caught in an awkward middle ground--desperate to go home, but eager to make the best home they can where they are. Habitat for Humanity's partnership with the government of Botswana and UNHCR--indeed, its work around the globe--helped to alleviate some of that burden by providing the simple, decent shelter that people need. In other areas of civil unrest, the approach is the same: to partner with families in need, whether the need is manmade or natural, and provide them with the tools to create a place in which they can live and grow safely--a home.