(Anniston continued)

But the new, handicapped-accessible Habitat house built during the JCWP finally puts Gorman's fears to rest and provides the special amenities Chris needs. There is a safe ramp to the front door, wider doorways to accommodate Chris' wheelchair and kitchen appliances with special features.

What Gorman is most excited about in her new house is her son's bathroom, which includes an accessible shower that allows Chris to bathe while still in his wheelchair. In their old house, Chris' wheelchair would fit only into the hallway in front of the bathroom. "I would have to pull him out of his wheelchair," Gorman says, "and then he would crawl, I would push and shove, and then I would have to get him into the tub. But now, I can roll him right in there. ... Maybe he'll even learn to like water."

Matt Smith, a Habitat for Humanity International AmeriCorps member in Denver, helped build the Gormans' new house. "It makes putting in 12 or 15 hours a day this week so worthwhile--just the fact that we can help them," he says. "This is going to make their lives so much better."

More than 200 of Smith's fellow AmeriCorps members joined him in Anniston for the annual AmeriCorps "Build-a-thon"--an event in which AmeriCorps members from across the United States come together to share construction skills and techniques. They also learn about one another's affiliates and, most importantly, they build houses.

"I love the fact that we meet people from all over the country who do basically the same thing we do," Smith says. "I get up every morning pretty excited to go to work. And I've learned so much--not even just about construction, but about people."

Bringing people together may be what the JCWP is ultimately all about: More than simply building houses, the project builds communities of people who live, work and socialize together, and it improves lives.

On the final day of building at the 2003 JCWP in Anniston, a rainbow arched across the sky as volunteers and soon-to-be homeowners walked onto the hilly site. It was an appropriate sign of the new lives, new hope and new community that had been built in just five days.

"It's like a blessing," Gunn says, tears glistening in her eyes. "I really can't describe it. It's like a burden has been lifted up. And it's just so fun to enjoy everybody from all over the world. It's a blessing for everybody to come. It's nice to know people still have love in their hearts and will come out to help you. There's just not a word for it but blessed."

--Leigh Powell is a writer/editor for Habitat for Humanity International.

	Habitat homeowner Mambo Mkhize from last year's JCWP traveled to Anniston, Ala., to help build during this year's project.

"Living Testimony" to Habitat's Work Builds in Anniston
by Leigh Powell

Mambo Mkhize stands on a hillside and surveys the construction of Habitat houses all around him. Just over a year ago in Durban, South Africa, Mkhize's own Habitat house--sponsored by Habitat World readers--was under construction in the midst of a scene not unlike this one. This year, he helped build someone else's house--in Anniston, Ala.

It is his first trip to the United States. "Maybe I am only dreaming," he says.

Mkhize worked side by side with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in Anniston, just as he did in Durban. "I never expected him to come and help me in South Africa," Mkhize says. "What I knew about big people like him--we are here to serve them, not them to serve us."

But Mkhize has discovered President Carter to be "humble and down to earth," and this impression carried over to everyone he met in Anniston.

"I'm impressed to see the people who are able to contribute to others, with their time, with their ability, with their skills as well," he says. "Here we are all working together, we are rubbing shoulders, regardless of the color of our skin. Everybody--we are of a common mind and goals. ... Everyone respects each other."

Feeling secure for his family, watching his children excel in their schoolwork, feeling more at ease in his work as a pastor--Mkhize attributes all of these things to his Habitat house. He describes himself as a "living testimony" to Habitat for Humanity's work.

He also encourages everyone, regardless of race or creed, to be a part of Habitat: "What can I say about Habitat for Humanity? I discovered that Habitat is not for the present people only; it is for the generations to come, and generations to come, and generations to come.... Everyone must work with Habitat. Let us all be committed to contributing in our way."