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| Group photo of volunteers in Matale, on World Habitat Day. |
World Habitat Day 2014 theme shines the spotlight on “Voices from Slums”
Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka
(HFHSL) calls on corporates to help improve life conditions in the country with
a special focus on those who live in dilapidated housing, encapsulated in this
year’s World Habitat Day theme “Voices from Slums”. HFHSL is a registered NGO whose
mission is to provide simple, decent and affordable housing to people in need.
On October 6th, World Habitat Day, 24
students and 4 teachers from the American Community School, Abu Dhabi, UAE visited
Harduwela, Matale, Sri Lanka to volunteer to build 16 homes for families in
need. The homeowners worked with the
volunteers to complete their houses.
In addition, 21 students and 3
teachers from American School in Doha, Qatar joined staff from HFHSL in volunteering
to build a home for a family in Palagalakanda, Galle. The volunteers will stay
for a week in Sri Lanka assisting 11 families; building homes, communities and
hope.
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| Elissar Haidar; volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka |
One of the most productive
homebuilders in the country with over 20,000 families served since inception in
1995, HFHSL is committed to creating a better standard of living for those in
need, despite race, religion or political beliefs. To mark World Habitat Day on
6 October, it joins the United Nations and organisations around the world in
raising awareness, educating and mobilising individuals and communities to take
action on the current global housing crisis.
Today, 1.6 billion people live in
inadequate shelter around the world. According to United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), more than four billion
people live in Asia currently, and of this number, UN-Habitat states that 523
million live in slums.
While a decent home is a basic
human right, many Sri Lankans live below the poverty line, with an entire
family crammed in a room with tin sheets as walls, no electricity, leaking
roofs, little to no sanitation and no privacy, which negatively impacts
education, relationships and health.
HFHSL works with families who live
in unfit or inadequate housing and help them achieve better housing. The
organization hosts programs whereby individuals or groups can sponsor a home,
project, a component or make a one off or monthly donation. HFHSL also has the
infrastructure to accommodate long-lasting and mutually-beneficial
relationships with corporate partners.
HFHSL offers a more engaging method
of contributing through its volunteer program.
Encouraging findings state that every volunteer decreases the cost of a
build by 5-10% and a 12 member team working 32 hours a week can provide the
unskilled labour required to complete an entire house.
Emphasising the importance of reaching
out to make a difference, President of the Board, Ramesh Schaffter said: “It is
important for not just the corporate sector, but for students and other bodies
to realize that we have the responsibility to ensure every Sri Lankan has
access to secure shelter with basic levels of sanitation facilities and water.
It is also critical that we realize that providing this is within our power. HFHSL
offers corporates and other groups the very rewarding opportunity to make a
difference through a variety of programs such as Sponsor a Home and Hands for Humanity.”
HFHSL also has a
disaster response program which assists families who are affected by natural or
manmade disasters. One of its largest such project is ‘The Indian Housing
Project’, in partnership with the government of Sri Lanka and funded by the
Indian government, to construct 4,000 houses in the East of Sri Lanka for IDPs.
In her role as Brand Ambassador for
HFHSL, Otara Gunewardene highlights the widespread effects of inadequate
shelter, reminding corporates and individuals of the unequal living standards
in Sri Lanka, and opportunities HFHSL provides to alleviate these conditions:
“World Habitat Day is the one day set aside annually to recognize the basic
right of all humanity to adequate shelter, and to encourage grassroots action
toward ending poverty housing.
Act Now! Volunteer, Donate and
Advocate with Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka and let’s work together for a Sri
Lanka where everyone has a decent place to live!”
Operating on a model where families
contribute with labour and get involved in building their own homes, HFHSL continues
to build homes for people who would otherwise be living below the poverty line. Every four minutes, Habitat for Humanity
worldwide serves a family in need of better housing and has helped more than
four million people since it was founded in 1976. Habitat for Humanity works in
more than 70 countries worldwide supported by one million volunteers each year.
The HFHSL website www.hfhsl.org provides additional information on
opportunities to assist the cause in Sri Lanka.
Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka
Since 1995,
Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka has assisted more than 20,000 families by
building and improving homes and by providing training and access to resources
to help families improve their shelter conditions. HFHSL’s Habitat
Resource Centers (HRCs) located in the east, west, south and central regions of
Sri Lanka aim to assist low-income families, as well as families affected
by disaster and/or are displaced by conflict, to build and improve homes
utilising local resources and local labour.
For more
information, to donate or to volunteer, please visit www.hfhsl.org or follow facebook.com/hfhsl
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