The Abdel Raheem family lived in a mud-brick home consisting of one room, no bathroom and a bare dirt floor. Mona Abdel Raheem explained that there were “no windows, no doors and no nothing.” Her husband, Ramadan Ahmed, a donkey cart driver said, “It gets cold in winter, and we needed a shelter for our donkey.”

Through a loan from Habitat for Humanity Egypt, the family was able to upgrade the whole house, and in addition, add a separate room for the donkey, which served to protect the family’s sole source of income. The couple’s daughter, 16-year-old Hanaan, said, “I used to feel ashamed to have my friends visit.”

The family’s living situation improved beyond recognition as a result of their Habitat home loan. Their house now consists of three rooms with a separate kitchen and bathroom; has a sturdy, insulated roof; electricity; water and a sewage system. Nine-year-old Rhoda feels much happier about her house than before: “Now I invite others over to sleep. Our house looks so beautiful. I don’t ever want to leave it.”

With the help of committed volunteers and staff working hard and partnering at the grass-roots level, the dream of simple, decent, affordable and healthy housing is becoming a reality for countless Egyptians like the Abdel Raheem family—one house at a time.