How Habitat for Humanity is responding to Tsunami in Asia

Filiz Telek FTelek at habitateurope.org.hu
Wed Jan 5 07:29:04 PST 2005


Dear friends, 


In the face of the Tsunami tragedy in Asia, we all got touched by the
size of the disaster, pictures we have seen and pain & confusion we
witnessed. 

Feelings of despair and helplessness do not help the victims who are so
urgently in need of food, clean water, medical care, shelter and other
things. We might be far away but there is something each of us can do. 

One thing that consoles me is that my own organization, Habitat for
Humanity which is a housing organization is trying to help the survivors
in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh where
we have national branches. Habitat will try to provide immediate shelter
as well as long-term solutions to those who became homeless as a result
of this tragedy. 

If you would like to learn more, please read on and share this with
others. 

As news unfolds about the tragic toll of the tsunami in Asia, and
stories get told about the dire challenges that survivors face, people
throughout the world are responding with inspiring generosity. Habitat
for Humanity is being blessed by this generosity and we are committed to
doing all we can to make a difference in the region, in the short term
to provide shelter and in the long term to provide sustainable solutions
to the housing needs of not only those immediately impacted by the
tsunami, but to poor communities throughout the region. Already we have
received nearly $1 million in donations through our tsunami relief
campaign. The Asia-Pacific office has pledged $250,000 to the effort and
the European office hopes to raise nearly $1 million more. 

Currently, we have teams on the ground and en route to the region,
assessing the damage, making sure that staff, volunteers and family are
safe and doing what we can to work with other organizations and agencies
toward permanent solutions. 

We are receiving offers of help of all kinds - from people seeking to
volunteer for Global Village teams and recovery teams to cash and
in-kind donations. We are hearing from affiliates that want to help,
longtime volunteers and donors who wish to help, and our corporate
partners are looking for ways to help us as we help those in need. For
now, though, donations, and, of course, prayers, are best. 

As millions were displaced and became homeless as a result of Tsunami,
you can support Habitat for Humanity's efforts to provide shelter to
Tsunami survivors, as an individual or as a group effort. 

If you would like to learn more about Habitat for Humanity's efforts in
the disaster area, please visit the following wed sites: 


http://www.habitat.org/disaster/2004/asia_tsunami/
http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/html/new.html
 
I am also adding a recent update from our Asia Pacific office below. 
Thank you for your support to Tsunami survivors.
 
filiz
 
 
BANGKOK, 5th January 2005: Habitat of Humanity offices in four of the
principal countries affected by the devastating earthquake-triggered
tsunami in the Indian Ocean are putting together plans that could house
as many as 18,500 families in a first phase and tens of thousands more
at a later date.
Corporate and other donors within Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and
Thailand have already pledged as much as US$1,925,000 in money and
gifts-in-kind. Matching funds from Habitat for Humanity International
and other donations could allow even more homeless families to have a
secure accommodation. 
Habitat's response aims to help families move out of refugee camps and
other temporary shelter and into transitional accommodation as a first
step to permanent housing. Overcrowding. hunger, disease and crime in
many camps is encouraging local authorities to persuade families to
return to their communities, where possible, in order to start
rebuilding their shattered lives.
Habitat's two-part response involves working in partnership with local
officials, relief agencies and other non-governmental organizations to
quickly provide transitional housing. The preference is build simple
"core" house, preferably on land sites already owned by families. At a
later stage these, "core" homes can be improved and extended using "Save
& Build" or other Habitat programs. 
Supplementing this first initiative, Habitat proposes to create
"disaster response technical centers" - modeled on its successful
building and training center concept. These centers would provide
technical expertise and assistance to families, Habitat affiliates and
partners. Later these centers could become full-blown building and
technical centers. Such centers are "social businesses" that teach
people the skills for making their own homes as well as producing
affordable building materials such as compressed earth blocks, roofing
tiles, door and windows and frames.  
 
Plans to date include:
SRI LANKA
In Sri Lanka, where several Habitat affiliates and their homeowners were
directly affected, around an estimated one million people have been
displaced.
HFH Sri Lanka is part of C-Net, an alliance of ten Christian-based NGOs
working to provide shelter using a "core" house concept. The first
houses could begin to be constructed within one month. Other alliance
members are Christian Children Fund of Canada, Christian Reform World
Commission on Relief, LEADS, Mennonite Central Committee, World Concern,
World Vision, Shelter for Life, Y-Gro and ZOA.
In the first phase, the aim is to build 20,000 core houses and to move
100,000 people out of refugee camps. HFH Sri Lanka is currently the
largest homebuilder in the country, after the government, and could be
responsible for half that total. 
Each core house would comprise a permanent structure with roofing, a
single room with a verandah or covered living/work space with a 250 sq.
ft. footprint. It would include minimum sanitary facilities. A second
room could be added later to enlarge the home as funds become available.

Each basic shelter is expected to cost up to US$500.
While much construction will be new, many homes damaged by the tsunami
still have solid foundations, which will be able to serve as foundations
for the rebuilt homes.  In addition, a great deal of used materials can
be recycled to keep costs low while providing for permanent shelter.
(HFH Sri Lanka typically builds masonry homes with wooden or metal roof
structures and corrugated iron sheets, ceramic tile or fiber-cement
tiles which it produces often itself. Even under normal construction
circumstances HFH Sri Lanka programs are adept at making use of recycled
and otherwise available natural resources such as gravel, stone, and
timber.)
Homeowners will be selected irrespective of ethnicity, religion and
political affiliation, and consistent with local demographics. The C-Net
project will prioritize refugee families living below the poverty line,
those who have lost primary wage earners, and those with women as head
of households. 
The program will be implemented in line with the principles of self-help
and community participation. 
To provide for longer-term sustainability, HFH Sri Lanka plans to create
disaster response technical centers in four locations. It already has
experience with a regular, affiliate-based, building and training center
which focuses on production and marketing of building material
components to HFH homeowners, and a center with a corporate supporter
which provides the infrastructure to allow HFH Sri Lanka to train master
masons and others. 
To pay for this first phase, as much as US$2 million or more may be
available. Locally-based Sri Lankan and foreign companies have pledged
as much as US$750,000 to HFH Sri Lanka. Overseas donors, many of them
Sri Lankan expatriates in Europe and North America, are also making
pledges and Habitat for Humanity is expecting to provide matching funds
for some aspects.
 
INDIA
HFH India is set to focus on hard-hit coastal areas of Tamil Nadu state,
south of the state capital Chennai. An estimated 10,000 people were
killed in the state. HFH India is working with the Discipleship Center,
an established partner, which has a substantial relief effort under way
based out of the Chennai area. This is also leading to links with the
Salvation Army and various Catholic organizations. 
DC is distributing "family kits" of food, clothing and tents to families
as part of a state government plan to encourage people to return home.
The work is focusing on (from north to south) Pondicherry, Nagapattinam,
Cuddalore and Kenyakumari, four areas that have received less help than
some areas. There are 82 refugee camps in Nagapattinam and 59 in
Kenyakumari. The government has ambitious plans to close camps within a
few weeks.
Habitat affiliates staff and volunteers are working on behalf of DC in
Nagapattinam. They are assessing applications and handing out "family
kits" to some 2,000-4,000 families.
HFH India is to provide transitional "core" housing to up to 4,000-6,000
families in the first building phase. Disaster response/building and
training centers are to be located in Pondicherry, Nagapattinam,
Cuddalore and Kenyakumari, possibly based out of current DC distribution
centers. Each center would aim to support around 1,000 families or more
as they build new homes. The core houses, about half the size of a
normal HFH India unit, would cost about US$400-500 each.
One of HFH India's most experienced directors, Christopher Kumar,
expects to move to Chennai to co-ordinate the response.
Habitat partnered with the DC during the final stages of the Gujarat
earthquake response. Prior to the tsunami, two partners worked together
in Rajistan and are developing a partnership to assist families living
in the slums of Delhi. 
The response from the Indian corporate sector has been strong, and could
reach the US$1 million mark. The Aditya Birla group, a major supporter
of HFH India, has offered financial and community support especially for
Kadaloor. Bellarpur Industries, another a major India corporate name has
offered a substantial sum from its Tsunami Relief Fund for rebuilding
communities. The Manorama Group is making relief funds for an
"Adopt-a-Community"- type of rebuilding project in neighboring Kerala
state.
 
INDONESIA
In Indonesia, the worst hit country, Habitat's national office is
expecting to work in Aceh, at the northern tip of Sumatra island, and on
Nias, an island to the west of Sumatra.
HFH Indonesia is examining a plan to use materials donated, or sold at a
discount, by a major Indonesian steel group, to erect transitional steel
housing in refugee centers. The housing would involve a series of 24 sq.
m. units. The homes would be dismantled for re-use once the families
return to their own land. The viability of the scheme and the cost of
the units have to be confirmed. Units could cost around US$200 each. The
initial plan is for housing 250 families in Aceh and another 200 in
Nias. 
HFH Indonesia would follow-up with establishing three disaster response
technical centers on Sumatra. As in India, these would be designed to
support hundreds and later thousands of families with expertise and
assistance as they build new homes.
Encouragingly, Indonesian and foreign businesses, along with churches
and others have pledged some US$650,000 to HFH Indonesia. As well as the
steel for the initial housing units, there have been substantial pledges
from real-estate firms and a foreign bank among others.
 
THAILAND
In Thailand, the local Habitat organization has also received strong
support from the local business community. One major local bank has made
a six-figure, US-dollar pledge and a large building materials group is
offering substantial quantities of building materials.
Though HFH Thailand does not have activities in the tsunami-affected
south, it is joining the national reconstruction effort. Options being
considered include disaster response technical//business and training
centers, and a target of 1,000 "core " homes costing around US$750 each.
In Thailand and Indonesia, in particular, HFHI may provide significant
capacity building support to strengthen national organizations.
 
 

*
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