Habitat for Humanity India
| Contact information | HFH India
303, Dhanthak Plaza
Makwana Road
Marol, Anderi East
Mumbai 400 059
India
Phone: +91 2229209851
Fax: +91 2229209854
E-mail: info@hfhindia.org
| | Web site | www.habitatindia.in
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India -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
WHILE INDIA’s economy is resilient amid global recession, the South Asian country continues to face the challenge of alleviating poverty. According to World Bank data, about 42 percent of the country’s population lives on US$1.25 a day. Poverty is concentrated in the rural areas, home to 71 percent of the population. People in the countryside have less access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation than their urban compatriots.
One in every five rural dwellers lives in katcha homes which are structures made of mud, thatch, grass or other non-lasting natural materials. In urban areas, the poor can be found living under bridges, on pavements, train tracks, highways and canals as well as in crowded slums.
According to Indian government statistics covering five years to 2007, the country still lacks some 50 to 60 million units of adequate housing.
Habitat for Humanity undertakes its work under the IndiaBUILDS umbrella The goal of this strategic initiative to serve 250,000 people with improved housing and related sanitation over five years, as well as mobilizing one million volunteers in the process and raising capital toward this goal. To date, some 175,000 people have been assisted. Given the immense scale of the need, HFH India has launched IndiaBUILDS: A World Of Hope campaign to tap global resources in its effort to serve over 500,000 people by 2015.
Habitat for Humanity India began operations in 1983 in Khammam in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh. It is among Habitat’s largest programs in the Asia-Pacific region, having assisted tens of thousands of families since its inception.
While striving to serve low-income families with solid and affordable housing, Habitat also has a long-term vision. It aims to act as a catalyst for improving housing conditions by offering Habitat’s support, expertise and experience to other groups and partners.
Habitat uses a Save & Build housing microfinance concept in India in order to reach more communities in need. Home partner families usually form groups – often led by women – to save about one third of the cost of a house while Habitat, non-governmental organizations or corporate partners invest the remaining two thirds.
To extend the reach of its programs HFH India operates resource centers in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and the capital, New Delhi.
Habitat Resource Centers have proved key in rebuilding after disasters, particularly after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. More than six years after the tsunami, Habitat continues to help affected families in southern India The emphasis is now on teaching thousands of families to protect their homes and communities through disaster preparedness and mitigation programs organized in conjunction with local non-governmental organizations.
Habitat also responds to help local communities affected by the annual bane of heavy monsoon rains. Earlier, HFH India was involved in rebuilding homes in the western state of Gujarat which was hit by an earthquake in January 2001. Habitat also helped rebuild communities in Cuttack city in Orissa after the state was torn by a super cyclone in October 1999.
Habitat house designs and materials vary with climate and locale. Typically, Habitat houses in India range in size from 20 sq. m. to 33.5 sq. m. Each house usually comprises a living room, veranda, kitchen and toilet. Houses constructed under the post-tsunami reconstruction program are earthquake-resistant and feature stairs to the roof to aid evacuation in the event of floods.
Habitat’s work is supported by student volunteers and churches as well as local and international businesses. Business partners include ASK Group, Atkins, Bank of America, Aditya Birla Group, Bayer India, Bloomberg, The Blackstone Group, Cisco, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, CRISIL, Cummins, Deutsche Bank, Dell Services, The Dow Chemical Company, DSP Merrill Lynch, ETA Star Property, Fujitsu, General Mills, Golden Bytes, Goldman Sachs, Housing Development Finance Corporation, IDFC, IFC, JP Morgan, Larsen & Toubro, Nissan, POSCO India, PT Kerney, REMAX, Thomson Reuters, Timken, Wells Fargo and ZEE among others.
HFH India hosts up to 30 international teams of volunteers each year, from the US, Europe and Southeast Asia. Corporate volunteers from locally based companies also take part in various builds around the country.
HABITAT HIGHLIGHTS
• HFH India, its local partners and Dow India have handed over three water treatment plants to families in coastal communities in Tamil Nadu state. The water treatment plants are set to serve nearly 1,600 families with access to clean water.
• In November 2010, HFH India’s resource center in Mumbai hosted a special TEEN-BUILD for finalists in a contest organized by an Indian teen magazine. The 18 finalists in the Teen of the Year 2010 contest worked together with former contestants and staff of THE TEENAGER magazine. They painted four houses in Karjat, western India.
• In October 2010, more than 80 employees from Citi India worked on Habitat builds in New Delhi, Maharashtra and Chennai during the financial services group’s Global Community Day.
• To mark World Habitat Day on 5th October 2010, HFH India organized a three-day “Let’s build a home brick by brick” event at popular High Street Phoenix Mall in Mumbai, western India. Shoppers were invited to donate toward the cost of construction materials such as bricks, tiles, doors, windows and roof for a model house. In Chennai in the south, corporate leaders from the real estate industry or CREDAI helped to build homes in Thiruvallur district as part of the Habitat DreamBUILDERS initiative.
• An international Women Build was held in March 2010 in Bangalore, southern India. The week-long build to commemorate International Women’s Day aimed to mobilize resources and link women donors and 150 members of women’s self-help groups.
• Movie star and goodwill ambassador John Abraham was named a “Habitat Hero” under a global ambassador program. Abraham and fellow actor Ranganathan “Maddy” Madhavan and actress Jacqueline Fernandez were among celebrity volunteers at the 2009 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
- HFH India is committed to rebuilding homes after Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states were hit by the worst floods in 100 years. In Andhra Pradesh, HFH India will provide 830 families with home repairs and renovations while a similar response in Karnataka will assist nearly 180 families.
- In November 2009, HFH India and corporate partners cement manufacturer ACC Ltd. and Hindustan Unilever launched Project Ashreya in Jorgama village, Madhepura district, Bihar state, northeast India. The project will provide 72 new houses and vocational training to 280 flood-affected families. A community center will also be built.
- In June 2009, HFH India launched a “Green Fingers” project in Karjat in the western state of Maharashtra. More than 100 saplings were planted by local volunteers in Habitat communities to provide food for families as well as for income-generating activities.
- HFH India celebrated its 25th anniversary in December 2008 with celebrations in Khammam, where HFH India first began, and in Chennai. In December 2008, “Habitat Hero” John Abraham went to Dubai received a check for over US$500,000 from local property firm ETA Star. The donation marked the beginning of a three-year partnership to build homes in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ethiopia.
- In October 2008, HFH India completed a Global Build involving over 70 volunteers from six countries. The volunteers built with families who live in a slum resettlement colony in Bhalaswa, northwest of New Delhi.
- One hundred homes were built by more than 2,000 volunteers, including celebrities Brad Pitt, Steve Waugh and John Abraham, during the Jimmy Carter Work Project 2006. The five-day blitz build was held in Lonavala, outside of Mumbai. A Fujitsu-sponsored school building was inaugurated in April 2007.
COUNTRY FACTS
- 1,173,108, 018 (est. July 2010)
- New Delhi
- 3,287,683 sq. km.
- Groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3% (2000)
- Hindi, English, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and Sanskrit.
Religions: Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Literacy: 61% (2001 census)
Urbanization: 29% (2008)
Population Living On US$1.25 A Day: 42% (2005)
Access to Improved Water Sources: 89% (2008)
Access to Improved Sanitation Facilities: 28% (2008)
Sources: CIA World Factbook, World Bank
Updated January 2011