A Bumper Harvest
Posted on: 16 January 2012
Dave highly recommends to anyone who has not yet experienced this. “This GV trip enabled me to appreciate the wider work of Habitat,” he says, “and realise how good we have it here. The living conditions of families prior to the build were really substandard and I was amazed at how little it cost to house one family compared to a New Zealand family. The new home owners were really appreciative of the opportunity to enjoy a better way of life and it was such a buzz to work with people from so many cultures in making it happen.”
31 year old Chea Sreymom used to share an 18m2 room at Stoeung Meanchey with eight other relatives. Sreymom is now able to live under the roof of her own house with pride and a great sense of ownership. She works at the new farm nearby earning US$3 daily and also works part-time as a manicurist to help save for her new home. Her mother, Bun Sophurn, who at 60 years of age was living beside busy railway tracks, has also moved in.
“I am very happy and grateful to all the national and international volunteers that came to build my house,” Sreymom says, “I will never disappoint the people who helped me.”
Khmer Harvest Build Concludes.
Posted on: 22 November 2011
Habitat for Humanity builds 46 new homes in Fiji after Cyclone Tomas. New Zealand volunteers involved.
Posted on: 22 September 2011
HFH Fiji builds 46 new
homes in cyclone response
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One
of the rebuilt homes in Habitat’s response to Cyclone Tomas.149 Kiwis Sign up for Trip of a Lifetime
Posted on: 31 August 2011
138 Kiwis needed to join Khmer Harvest Build in Cambodia.
Posted on: 12 April 2011
From 15-19th November 2011, volunteers will work alongside families to build 22 houses in Oudong, Kandal Province about 40 km outside Phnom Penh. Volunteers will spend three days building homes, one day working on a farm,and one day making bricks using greener building technology. There is opportunity for rest and recreation after the build. The cost of the trip is $4,300 excluding R&R travel after the build. Watch this space for further information and registration forms.
US beauty queen helps build Tauranga house
Posted on: 24 November 2010
LATEST GLOBAL VILLAGE TRIP NOT LOST IN TRANSLATION
Posted on: 27 October 2010
Erecting homes for Poor by Retired Citizen of New Zealand
Along with Ms. Lisweith, two groups of Newzerlanders were busy in building homes for the economically back warded people of Itahari municipality-6 Bajraha of Sunsari. Without considerate of their old age, like Ms. Lisweith there were more than a dozen of senior citizen of Newzerland, doing hard work in construction of house for the meager.
They were 19 in number and from different parts of Newzerland, some from capital Hammington, and some from Oaklent, Yekyato and Walington. They came to Nepal under Habitat for Humanity International-Nepal, recognized organization in making decent shelter for the poor. SOS Children Village-Itahari had helped these Newzerlanders in choosing the house of poor and other local facility.
They choose the poorest family of the area and made the walls of bamboo strips. Not only that but also they plastered these walls with mud. Among these 19 Newzerlanders, retired old people were more in number. Nearly whole team seemed passionate in their work.
61 year old Ms. Judy told the reporter that since it was the wonderful experience of her life, she was very much exicited. After making mud slurry in the yard, carrying it and plastered the walls, she answered the queries of Annapurna post that she was having amazed feeling having chance to work for the local poor people. She said” I am surprised. I am experiencing what I have never experienced yet. Thank you God”. When she was young, she used to run the polytechnic institute in Newzerland.
Ms. Helen Nil, the leader of the group, said that she was feeling superb helping the poor of Nepal. When the reporter asked her age she said jokingly, “I am not the young wonderful lady but don’t worry, I am full of enthusiasm.” She wanted to be busy even in her home country and it is really interesting to use bamboo for the shelter. Retired from her lawyer profession, Ms. Helen said,” my remaining life will be dedicated for the poor and needed people of the world.”
The oldest of the team, 74 years old, Mr. Jyof was busy in making and sharpen the bamboo strips. He is retired from Farm house of Government of Newzerland. He really had a great time working hard in building a home for the poor. He told that they bear their travel expenses by themselves.
The foreigners worked hard to build the house as per the locals’ choice so they are happy too. Bajrahi’s Minkumari Chaudhari said it was estimated more than Rs.10,000 for her house to construct. However, with the help of these foreigners she was able to minimize the cost.
Locally managing the team, and director of SOS Children Village, Mr.Ramesh Tamrakar, informed that it was the fifth foreigner team came to Itahari to help in construction of house for the deprived people of there. Within these two and half years, the people from America, Canada and Newzerland had visited and built 68 houses. Before, there used to visit by international students the most but this time it was more of retired Newzerlanders, Mr Tamralar mentioned
ELIM CHRISTIAN COLLEGE- THE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Posted on: 27 July 2010
We arrived on time in Nadi and were greeted by the friendly habitat Fiji staff at the airport. We then all got aboard a people mover/truck and headed to the other side of the island where we would be staying for a week. Our habitat host for the week was Sikele. He was with us all of the time making sure that we had everything we needed and dealt with the locals regarding our home stay and the arrangement of getting food and water for our team. We arrived in Wailevu where we stayed for the week. We stayed in the parent’s house of the daughter whose home we were building for. They graciously gave up their house for a week for it to be invaded by all of these people.
From there we drove 35 minutes every morning up to the build site which was a small village far up into the hill country. The accommodations were simple but effective. We all slept on the floor on foam mats and all shared one toilet and shower. Girls and guys had their own changing room and meals were prepared by the family members. The food was excellent. We were very well looked after. All water that we drank was bottled or boiled. One of the nights they arranged for us to stay up in the village where we were building the house. It was a very good experience. During the evening they had a festive ceremony of singing and dancing. A true cultural experience. We had a good deal of time to interact with the local village community. Many of the students found this to be a very valuable experience. It was good to have other things to do besides just working on the house. The build is truly only a small part of the experience it is the people and community that make the biggest impact.
On Sunday we were able to go to a Fijian church and then we dedicated the house to the family which was a very emotional and moving experience. The build went pretty well. The prep work that was done before we got there was minimal so we were basically starting from literally the ground up. We managed to get three walls up and much of the painting done as well as a couple of big holes dug for the sewage system.
We were able to visit the school one afternoon which was another impacting experience. We were able to give them workbooks, pencils and some sports equipment that we brought along with us. We performed a few songs for them and they performed a few songs for us. Later that afternoon we all played volleyball with the local villagers. It was quite a spectacle.
The final leg of our trip took us to a hotel just north of Nadi where we were able to unwind and process all that had gone on for the last week. We basically had been living altogether along with the family for 24hrs straight for 7 days. We had some good group meetings and discussions about what impacted them during their time on the build and talked about what they might feel upon returning home. One of the days was spent out on an island snorkelling and just spending time on the beach together as a team. The students really enjoyed getting to know each other better and just having some time to themselves.
One of the things that stood out to many was the simpleness of village life and how the importance of family, community and spirituality really stood out. Western culture is so cluttered with stuff and business that it takes us away from these simple qualities that are essential to life. Food is grown to live and survive on not casually picked over in a supermarket culture. Health and safety was quite good during the trip. There was the occasional scratched knee that required a plaster and some ointment. The only medical issue was one student came down with an allergic reaction after swimming in the river. She was taken to the local medical clinic and given stronger antihistamines free of charge. Overall it was an amazing trip and awesome to see Gods hand of providence and protection over the whole thing. I look forward to providing and organizing more opportunities like these for students to be a part of in the future.
Jason Webb
Elim Christian College
Jason Webb
Elim Christian College
TEAM MONGOLIA - JULY 2010
Posted on: 20 July 2010
I have recently returned from Mongolia. I was fortunate enough to be the team leader for 10 amazing volunteers from various places in New Zealand. We spent 5 days constructing 2 brick houses between us including insulation and parts of the roof. What a fantastic experience. I would recommend this to anyone no matter what your circumstances are. Our team sure had diversity from Shane : an 18 year old student from Whangarei to Owen turning 76 from New Plymouth.
I suggest travelling singularly, as in a team environment you become friends very quickly and it is amazing the bond that you can form with your team members in just a few days. If you choose to travel with a companion this still is equally fulfilling as you can both share in the memories and make new friends together.
We have numerous overseas builds on the horizon for the rest of 2010 and 2011, so if you are interested please go to our website www.habitat.org.nzand see which one is for you.
You can fundraise online, if you need any tips, ideas or advice on how to do this please contact us. Shane managed to raise his full amount for Mongolia. Go Shane ...
I have now been to Samoa and Mongolia, each time I have had a real life changing experience, made great friends along the way and I truly can’t wait to venture on my next build. Here is the perfect way to unite our cultures and help change lives forever. Building homes, Building hope.
many Thanks,
Devie (Team Leader)
Global Village trip spurs fair trade products on our shelves!
Posted on: 14 September 2009
“Our team consisted of 10 men and 14 women aged 16 to74 from all corners of New Zealand. Initially strangers were brought together by a desire to build homes for Ethopians and to raise the awareness of the many other social issues facing them.
After an arduous 30 hour flight and two days of familiarising ourselves, we departed for a five hour bus trip to the Debre Birhan Affiliate. (the Habitat for Humanity building site).
Then the real work began. Team Kiwi hit the ground running, rolling up our sleeves and jumping right into it. The team worked with what was around us; the condition of the site and the tools were in stark contrast to what we were accustomed to back in New Zealand, but everyone got into it and 12 houses were constructed.”
Team Leader Marty van der burg has established links the Jimma Habitat Affiliate which is in the heart of the coffee growing area of Ethiopia. Coffee is now co- imported to NZ with Trade Aid and Cerebos Gregg’s. Support Habitat Ethiopia by buying Robert Harris ‘Ethiopian Fairtrade Coffee’.
One Hundred and Fifty New Zealanders signed up to build in the Mekong!
Posted on: 14 September 2009
Vietnam Odyssey...enriching lives!
Posted on: 16 April 2009
Experiencing Vietnam from the Ground Up - an enriching opportunity for all!
By various routes and time zones, the team members of VN09001 gathered in Ho Chi Minh City on the 2nd January - ten .JPG)
New Zealanders and five Americans. Our ages ranged from 18-72 years; six members had been on other GV team builds; and a number of members hadn't any or much experience in DIY/home maintenance/construction activities. Arrival day enabled everyone to get orientated to the local area and learn how to cross the streets without fear or hesitation. The following day was a fun mix of culinary and sightseeing activities: being shown around the fresh produce section at the Ben Thanh Market by a chef from the Vietnam Cookery Centre then off to the Cookery Centre for cooking lessons and self-made lunch; a visit to the Saigon Notre-Dame Basilica; the Central Post Office; the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace.
The next morning we flew to Rach Gia to meet Ngan (the Volunteer Programme Coordinator, HfH), be briefed at the Habitat Office, meet the local commune committees and the eight families we'd be working with and attend a formal welcome dinner. Our work began in earnest the next day, involving two hours travel each way to the commune using three modes of travel (bus, car/bike/ferry, longboat with outboard motor). We split into four teams and worked with four different families, doing basic construction tasks, such as cutting and straightening steel; digging foundations; breaking up rocks and bricks for fill; making, carrying and laying concrete; tamping down soil; bricklaying; putting up palm tree leaf cladding; and shifting tons of dirt.
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We were spoilt with delicious morning and afternoon teas and lunches; enjoyed the families, their children and neighbours; and found language was no barrier, thanks to the college interpreters and Ngan. Although in saying this, at times the Kiwis found it difficult to understand the Americans…and vice versa. Who'd have thought American and New Zealand English could be so different and difficult to understand one another! It caused much hilarity. On the work site however, sign language reigned. You soon knew if your work wasn't up to scratch and a ‘thumbs up' for all good, was welcomed. Our week's work was completed with a presentation to the families (a gift and a photo of the group and home owners) and a formal thanks and farewell from the commune committee.
It was humbling to see such poverty – the one room dwellings, fish pond toilets, glassless windows – and heartbreaking to know families' difficulties in sending all their children to school, because of the cost of fees and books. It was thrilling to see the transformation in the homes in only a few days, as they went from a compacted dirt floor to a concrete floor; straw and mud exterior cladding to bricks or new palm tree leaves; a patch of bare earth transformed into a simple one room dwelling.
The Rest and Recreation weekend was spent at Phu Quoc, an island off the coast and tipped to be the next big tourist destination. It was a welcome break from the construction work and team members enjoyed the beach, various watery activities (swimming, toe dipping, fishing), massages, the local restaurants, some sightseeing tours and exploring the island by motor bike. It was difficult to leave. Week two worksites were a repeat of week one's activities, but with different families. We finished week two with a formal farewell at the commune and formal farewell dinner with the Habitat for Humanity staff, volunteers and interpreters. The team then flew back to Ho Chi Minh City and the team dispersed.
The whole experience was stimulating: a veritable kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and smells. All of it was memorable, including discovering the .JPG)
wondrous and multiple uses of duct tape (no one should leave home without it); the generosity of families having complete strangers in their homes; the team members – always ready to help one another out, source coffee and have a laugh; the superb organization, guidance and leadership of Katrina Martell, team leader and Louis Piezzo, co-team leader (amazing how they managed to track down a birthday cake in Ho Chi Minh City and karaoke in Rach Gia, for two different birthday celebrations); learning basic construction skills; learning how to lay bricks under the guidance of the home owners and supervisors; the 5.00am public announcements and curious mix of music through the loud speakers in the street; and the restorative powers of anti-inflammatories and a cold drink.
I do recommend the experience. It's good to go out of existing comfort zones; to experience another culture up close; to go to parts of a country that tourists may never get to see; to do something purposeful and very practical for families who need a hand up; to meet new, interesting people; to be physically, mentally and emotionally challenged on a daily basis; to be reminded of the abundance and blessings in our own lives - such ready access to clean water; shelter; sanitation, food, education, health services and freedom to travel outside our own countries. Traveling with a Global Village Team Build makes touring to some far flung places easier – it's all arranged; it's a comfortable option for people traveling by themselves – and its loads of fun.
As to the question put to me the week I returned – “why do it?” I can only say – “why ever not?” .JPG)
Sue Dwan
Member of VN09001, from Christchurch