HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
By Paula Black

Habitat for Humanity is a nongovernment, non-profit organization, whose main goal is to eliminate poverty housing throughout the world. Each year volunteers visit countries all over the world and join Habitat for Humanity building projects. For the past two years groups from Shimane have gone to the Philippines and helped build houses in poor communities.

Being part of a Habitat group has a number of responsibilities and also many rewards. There is a lot of planning before a group can begin the building. The first step is locating a host affiliation. This means finding a country that is able to host a volunteer group. The country affiliate liaises with the local communities to organize the building sites and applicants and placements of families in the Habitat houses. The affiliate also looks after the volunteer group by organizing accommodation, transportation, food and addressing any other concerns the group may have. One of the most important roles of the affiliate is to create a link between the local community and the volunteer group.

Another responsibility is fundraising. It costs US$3000 for a volunteer group to join a building project. That money goes directly to the affiliate and is used to buy building materials. The cost of travel, accommodation and food are paid for by individual volunteers. Fundraising requires a lot of energy but is good fun and a great way to encourage team spirit for the build. Through fundraising we are able to not only gather money but raise awareness about Habitat for Humanity and the issue of poverty housing..

I was part of the group who went to the Philippines last year. Our first day was an official welcome by the affiliate and introduction as to how the building project would operate. We were hosted by a small community who were well accustomed to Habitat volunteers and we were warmly greeted. The following 6 days of building were challenging but filled with moments of amazing connections and experiences with local people. While we mixed cement with shovels, carried water from the river, hammered nails, carried sandbags and sieved dirt we were constantly surrounded by hoards of kids, dogs and adults all giving us support and encouragement. There was a day where local people joined in the building and we had many chances to communicate and make friends. Not only were we able to make friends with the locals but were able to develop the friendships and connections within our own group.

We were able to join in a one night homestay with families who had been previous recipients of a Habitat house. It was an honour to be given their only bed while the mother, father and their 10 children slept on the concrete floor. We joined in meals together and even sang karaoke.

It was wonderful to be a part of peoples lives who have very little in terms of material wealth but their sense of community is something I have not been able to experience in my hometown. Doors were left open for people to walk in at any time, everyone knew each other and there was a sense of warmth and trust shared by all.

We were looked after extremely well by the affiliate. When we were not building, they organized trips to the local university, orphanage, downtown and a trip to the local ice cream shop to try a famous Philippine dessert. Our good bye/thank you ceremony was a wonderful night where all the community members put on their best clothes and we joined for dinner, dancing and some skits that they had rehearsed for us.

This year the volunteer group from Shimane has been confirmed with an affiliate in Vanuatu. Vanuatu is a group of small islands located off the North East coast of Australia in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The affiliate and the Shimane volunteer group are looking forward to working together to build houses, friendships and learn about a new culture while sharing some of their own.

So far, the Shimane volunteer group has raised about US$1000. We have had a number of fundraising events such as cookie stalls, a second hand clothes stall and raffles. We still have a lot of money to raise until we reach our goal, however, we have plans for many fun and educational fundraising activities. We hope you will share our support for Habitat for Humanity.

1. Have us help you find a language tutor or short-term host family 2. Study Japanese from our language textbooks and educational magazines 3. Watch Japanese movies with English subtitles on one of our video booths 4. Transfer your Japanese videotapes to foreign systems and vice versa 5. Come listen to our monthly speaker (in Japanese) 6. Get free legal consultation from a Japanese law expert 7. Post advertisements on our Community Bulletin Board 8. Read English-language newspapers and magazines from around the world 9. Plan your next trip abroad with help from our Lonely Planet travel guides 10. Borrow paperbacks from our "Used Book Corner" 11. Learn about the world around you from more than 200 books about Japan in English 12. Have free internet access 13. Ask our friendly international staff anything 14. Become another fan of the Shimane International Center