AsiaLIFE

Building 21 houses in five days, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia last month showed how teamwork can go a long way to helping the less fortunate. Words by Nora Lindstrom.

He may not have been in the Oval Office for some time, but leaving one of the most powerful positions in the world has not stopped former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s involvement in world affairs, both large and small. In November, the Nobel Peace Laureate together with his wife Rosalynn made a quick visit to Cambodia, to oversee the completion of the Cambodian part of Habitat for Humanity’s project Mekong Build 2009. The region-wide initiative, which will see the completion of 166 homes, is part of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project (JRCWP), under which homes have been built around the world for over 25 years. The beneficiaries of the Cambodia leg are the 21 families of the New Life Community, who used to live at the former municipal dump in Phnom Penh’s Stung Meanchey.

Presidential Pulling Power

Bernadette Bolo-Duthy, country director of Habitat for Humanity in Cambodia, says Carter’s involvement in the project helps draw attention to its wider purpose. “The build is done to create awareness of housing issues in Cambodia,” she explains, citting the plight of the urban poor, the homeless and the landless in the Kingdom. “For Carter to lend his name in support of the project in Cambodia is also making us more visible in-country, because we are a very young organisation and not yet well known here.”

Involvement in the work of Habitat for Humanity is nothing new for Carter. Since 1984 the president and his wife have spent at least a week each year working on one of its projects. Over the years, the JRCWP grew out of that work, though Bernadette points out that the Mekong Build is not funded by Carter, simply an initiative he lends his name to.

Though the now 85-year-old former president did not take part in the actual build, he was given a cordial reception at the building site near Oudong. Describing it as an honour to take part, he was enthusiastic about both the reception and the work completed by international and local volunteers together with the beneficiaries. “We’ve been to Thailand, we’ve been to Vietnam, we’ve been to China, and this is the greatest reception we’ve had anywhere in the world,” Jimmy said addressing the crowd. “We’ve never had a more exciting ceremony than this one, and never a more beautiful place.”

From Dump to Former Capital

Bernadette admits that initially she was hesitant for Habitat for Humanity to become involved in the moving of the New Life Community. Not wanting to contribute to the wave of relocations ongoing in the capital, she explains the organisation agreed to the project because the community itself took the initiative to find alternative housing. “They were the ones who came to us,” she says. “They are people who knew that the dumpsite was going to close and that they were going to be evicted, so they started looking for land as well as a donor to buy that land. They convinced a donor and then came to us.”

Using the community’s land title as collateral, the five-day build saw the erection of 21 houses for the community members. Bernadette says each house cost US$3,500 to build, of which community members will pay US$900 over a period of five years, at a rate of US$15 per month. Once they have completed the payment, they become full owners of both house and land.

Huor Samnang and Chea Ratha, along with their two sons, are beneficiaries of one of the houses. “I’m very happy, because before we used to rent, and now we have our own house,” Samnang says. Ratha too is happy, though he describes the build itself as tough. “I have no experience of how to build, and it was very hot!” Ratha used to pick rubbish at the dump, though before the move he had started working in a bakery in Phnom Penh. “Now, maybe I have to go back to Phnom Penh, but I have also requested an organisation to help start a bakery here,” he says. Despite the uncertainty over employment, the couple is all smiles as they stand in front of their new home.

Global Village

Anne Dawson, 38, and DJ Forza, 40, are two of the international volunteers who took part in the project. “This is my third Habitat experience and my first Jimmy Carter experience, it was really wonderful,” says DJ. “A lot of hard work, but we’re happy to do it for the families.” Anne describes working with the beneficiary community as fantastic. “They are so appreciative of our work, and they were right there with us every day as we built, checking to see we have everything we needed,” she says.

Bringing together people from different walks of life and different parts of the world is part of the ethos of Habitat for Humanity. Bernadette describes taking part in builds as “very transformative.”

In addition to the organisation’s Global Village programme, which sees international teams working with the organisation on a monthly basis, Habitat for Humanity also reaches out to Cambodian youth. According to Bernadette, the Cambodia Youth Initiative aims to raise awareness about housing issues amongst young Khmers, many of whom come from upper or middle class backgrounds and hence have little understanding about the housing problems faced by many of their compatriots. Um Keang Seng, 26, says he heard about the Mekong Build through his university. The English language student describes taking part as a “good experience,” though he admits the building work was tiring. “If I have time, I will do it again,” he vows.

Carter will undoubtedly also do it again, though the next JRCWP is most likely to take place back in the U.S. The Mekong Build will also continue, with a further 50,000 homes being built in the region over the next five years.

Habitat for Humanity Cambodia accepts volunteers for both builds and office work. The organisation also runs special team-building projects for schools, businesses and other establishments. For more information, visit: www.hfhic.org