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H a b i t a t f o r H u m a n i t y ® I n t e r n a t i o n a l2 0 0 4 : Vo l u m e 1 1 N u m b e r 2

Innovations in ConstructionRENOVATIONS: A POSSIBLE URBAN SOLUTION? 3

PROVIDING SHELTER FOR FAMILIES AFFECTED BY AIDS 4

HFH SENEGAL: REDUCING HOUSE COSTS AND MAKING BETTER USE OF SPACE 6

WITHSTANDING FUTURE DISASTERS 7

SAVE AND BUILD: REACHING OUT TO MORE FAMILIES IN NEED 8

CHANGING OUR WAYS 9

HFH BOLIVIA: EXPLORING PROGRESSIVE HOUSING 10

INNOVATING FOR SUSTAINABILITY 11

BUILDING ON FAITH 2004: CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF CHURCH PARTNERSHIPS 11

“With which families in our community should we be partnering?”

“How much can they afford to pay?”

“What kind of a housing solution can we build for that amount?”

very affiliate should be asking itself these three ques-tions on a regular

basis, and pushing itself to find less expensive housing solutions so that it can serve lower-income families in even more desperate hous-ing situations. If we don’t help these families, who will?

Yet somehow, there is often a tendency among Habitat enti-ties to gradually add features to a home, increase the size and use more expensive materials. (You’ve heard the argument: “But they were donated.”) Other

affiliates may not want to do the admittedly difficult work of finding a decent, low-cost hous-ing solution, but rather expect our partner families to come up with innovative ways to pay their mortgage.

As a result, in 2000 the Europe and Central Asia area office set up a task force comprised of the area program director and rep-resentatives from three countries in the area. They developed the “Simple, Decent and Affordable (SDA) Guidelines.”

The backbone of the SDA Guidelines is a process whereby an affiliate should first define its

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How Do We Know What to Build? by Debbie Wilber

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HFH Radauti completes the final stages of its first construction project in Romania.

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How Do We Know What to Build? by Debbie Wilber

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target families when our affiliates range in location from Belfast, Northern Ireland, to Ulan-Ude, Russia? Along the same lines, how can we standardize what is simple and decent?

Our answer is to clarify a pro-cess through which each affiliate should travel prior to starting a new project. At each step in the process, key decisions need to be made. The final document will present these decisions, criteria for decision making and other resources. It thus becomes a man-agement tool kit, with limited numbers of standards built in which assure that we stick to our mission principles.

The new document is intended as a guide along the path toward achieving our goal: eliminating poverty housing and homelessness from the face of the earth. Hopefully each affili-ate, upon evaluating its current program, will ask the three ques-tions raised at the beginning of this article and find new ways to serve those families who continue to suffer in unacceptable housing conditions.

Debbie Wilber is the construction manager for HFH in Europe and Central Asia.

Volume 11 Number 2The International Affiliate Update is published quarterly.

EditorAnita Mellott

Copy Editor Leigh Powell

Graphic Designer Cynthia Friesen

Portuguese TranslatorLigia Hougland

Portuguese Copy EditorSimone Ramey

Spanish TranslatorMontse Malmierca-Smith

Spanish Copy EditorLaura VanDruff

French Translator and Copy EditorFabienne Boulongne-Collier

AdviserKaran Kennedy

Editorial PolicyWe welcome the submission of articles, photos, news items and ideas for the International Affiliate Update. We reserve the right to print, edit or reject any items we receive, or to file materials for later use as space permits.

Guidelines for the submission of articles are available.

For distribution, contact Nancy Barnes: NBarnes@hfhi.org

For further details, contact: Anita E. Mellott, editor, International Affiliate Update, Habitat for Humanity International, 121 Habitat St., Americus, GA 31709-3498, USA.fax: (229) 924-0577 e-mail: AMellott@hfhi.org

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target low-income families and how much those families can afford. Then they find a housing solution that is affordable for those families. Through effective project management, the affiliate builds the solution within the estimated cost.

As a result of the guidelines and accompanying assessment tool, many of the affiliates in E/CA have redefined their target families

and have significantly simplified their housing design.

For example, the affiliate in Radauti, Romania, reduced con-struction costs on its second proj-ect by building duplexes in lieu of single homes and simplifying their entry design.

In the E/CA area office, we are currently in the process of reviewing the guidelines with the aim of developing standards. Yet this has raised many challenges. How can we come up with a stan-dardized way to determine our

Affordable for whom? Habitat partner families should have a family per capita income of less than 75 percent of the community average per capita income. No more than 40 percent of a family’s monthly income should be spent on housing.

Define simple, decent and healthy. The maximum square meter size of a house is defined, as well as other general house design criteria.

Calculating house price. The final house cost charged to families should include the follow-ing elements: land costs, legal fees, construction materials, equipment, professional paid labor, delivery, architectural fees, miscellaneous site costs (such as storage, temporary toilets, etc.), construction supervisor, administration fee, infrastructure and taxes.

Donated materials. The full cost of donated materials, services and land should be included in the house cost to assure sustainability and to protect the revolving fund.

Inflation. Some adjustment must be made over the life of the mortgage to prevent inflation from devaluing the repayment to the Fund for Humanity.

SDA Guidelines at a Glance

Floor plans depict a simple, decent home in Radauti, Romania.

How Do We Know What to Build?continued from page 1

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necessitated a change in strat-egy. The price of bricks increased three times in two years, making new construction quite expensive. HFH Kyrgyzstan turned to renovations and has finished 36 apartments so far.

The actual work consists of several stages. As part of prepara-tions, the construction team needs to remove old paint and wall-paper, scrape old whitewashing and clean the pipes. Sometimes pipes have to be replaced alto-gether. Then the team sands and glues the walls and ceilings, paints the window frames and installs the radiators. Finally, the team whitewashes the walls and lays the linoleum floors.

HFH Kyrgyzstan found that renovations work well for them not only in terms of cutting costs but in saving time, too. “It takes

hen we talk about pov-erty housing in Europe

and Central Asia, the pic-tures that come to mind are dilapidated urban housing or typical low-quality panel apartment blocs in the for-mer communist countries. Having a home in E/CA is more likely to mean living in an apartment than own-ing a house. Since many E/CA affiliates work in capi-tals or bigger cities, they are exploring innovative ways to tackle the problem of urban poverty housing. HFH Hungary and HFH Bulgaria, for instance, build multiple-family units to optimize the use of land, which is becom-ing increasingly expensive. Other affiliates have chosen to renovate existing apart-ments—each affiliate has its own particular motivation and different level of success in fulfilling the goals.

HFH Beius, Romania: Reaching Out to Poorer FamiliesDuring the days of the Ceausescu regime, when working was manda-tory, the state brought unmarried people from the countryside and orphanages to work in a local factory in Beius. They were given substandard one-room apart-ments, no larger than 20 square meters, in one building that housed all non-married workers. On average, 50 people shared six decrepit toilets on each floor, while the roof of the fourth floor leaked all the way down to the second floor.

HFH Beius bought and reno-vated all the apartments on the fourth floor of the building. The affiliate added a fifth floor and built a durable roof, creating alto-gether 25 new, decent homes. The idea behind the project was to reach even poorer people among those in need. “We decided this project would help some orphans who cannot apply for a house because of the price. Another reason was the price of the land has grown so much and made the houses more expensive,” says Stefan Miklo, the site manager.

The project involved a lot of hard work. Volunteers had to remove 300 tons of insula-tion materials from the roof to make space for the new floor. Cleaning the basement was not easy either—foul-smelling, waste-deep sewage had been stagnating there for years. “We recommend

this project only to a strong affili-ate because it is a lot of work to do and everyone involved must have some experience,” warns Miklo.

The biggest challenge of all, however, turned out to be the attitude of non-Habitat families in the same building. They did not understand how Habitat for Humanity works and were envi-ous of families selected to part-ner with Habitat. It is something to keep in mind next time, says the communications coordinator, Emil Popa: “It is very important to have the approval and sup-port of all the people from the building.”

HFH Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: Cutting Costs, Increasing EfficiencyWhen HFH Kyrgyzstan started out five years ago, it built houses, but the rising construction costs

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Europe and Central Asia

Renovations: A Possible Urban Solution?by Jelica Vesic

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Renovations under way in an apartment in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, will eventually provide a decent home for a family in need.

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Providing Shelter for Families Affected by AIDSby Kathryn Bistline

a n y o f t h e 6 , 3 0 0 A f r i c a n s who will die

today of AIDS are parents. Their children must learn quickly how to survive on their own, meeting their basic needs for food, cloth-ing, shelter and love. By 2010, AIDS will have orphaned 20 million African children under the age of 15.1

Habitat for Humanity is working to mitigate the impact of the AIDS pandemic on African families by providing adequate, healthy, affordable shelter, espe-cially for families headed by or caring for orphans and vulner-able children.

Foster FamiliesMany African societies have

strong traditions of fostering—orphaned children are taken in and cared for by extended family members. Extended family mem-bers today care for more than 90 percent of orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.2 Grandmothers, aunts, uncles and older siblings want to help, but these same fam-ilies were struggling even before they doubled or tripled in size.• Downward Drift/Appropriate Technology: When local materi-als or building methods can be used to result in lower house costs without reducing house size, more foster families can be reached. • Renovat ions /Extens ions : Foster families need extra space to reduce overcrowding. Habitat houses that are designed with the idea that families will eventually have to add on extra rooms (i.e., Building in Stages) will allow

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families to safely extend their housing. The structural sound-ness of adding onto existing non-Habitat houses will have to be considered before new rooms are constructed.• Repairs: Accepting the addi-tional responsibility of caring for orphaned children means there is less income to spend on hous-ing. Yet, roofs leak, wind blows through holes in the walls, the floor has rotted away—old hous-es fail to shelter to the family inside. Families need options to make step-by-step improvements to their houses so that they can afford to provide a safe place for the children.

Child-Headed HouseholdsThe incredible number of AIDS orphans is beginning to over-whelm traditional coping mecha-

nisms of extended families and a growing number of children are heading households. In working with orphans and vulnerable chil-dren, HFH will strive to promote dignity by increasing the capacity of children and young people to meet their own needs.

One model to be piloted is known as cluster housing. Each dwelling provides affordable, family-type care for five to nine children. Children are cared for by a community parent, a guard-ian for the cluster. Orphan “fami-lies” are integrated into their local community rather than isolated within a closed institutional sys-tem. Conditions in the cluster are as close as possible to those of normal family life. Siblings are not separated, but live together in the same dwelling. Children from different families have sibling-like

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Children from “God’s Golden Acre,” a foster care facility for children orphaned by AIDS, sang at the opening ceremony of the 2002 Jimmy Carter Work Project in Durban, South Africa. By 2010, AIDS will have orphaned 20 million African children under the age of 15.

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two years to build 10 houses and less than a year for 10 apartments,” says construction manager Emil Shaimbetov. “After renovating several apartments, the families gained good construction skills and they work faster.”

HFH Ulan-Ude, Russia: Defeating the Climate“We decided to take up reno-vating apartments because our construction season is very short, only six or seven months, because of the weather conditions. The winter lasts for almost half a year,” says Ilya Imyginov, construction manager at HFH Ulan-Ude. The affiliate builds houses in the summer but renovates apart-ments in winter months.

Money is not the decisive

element in choosing between ren-ovations and new constructions. The budget has a fixed upper limit and either alternative has to fit within that sum. The final choice rests with the partner family.

Elena Tsyrenova, the commu-nications coordinator at Ulan-

Ude, says there is no clear answer about whether it is better to build anew or renovate. Building takes a lot of time and depends on the weather, she says, while renova-tions are quicker and more people are housed.

“But in our case, the family

that moved into an apartment complains of high utilities. As they are still repaying their mort-gage to Habitat, it is an addi-tional burden to their budget,” says Tsyrenova.

ConclusionOur experience in E/CA shows that good planning and clear goals are crucial for successful renovations. Equally important is the ability to adapt to the changes, such as rising apartment and/or utility prices. The key, however, is to keep thinking creatively about how best to use the skills and resources we have to battle pov-erty housing in the cities. As the number of people living in slums approaches 2 billion across the globe, this question is becoming ever more relevant.

Jelica Vesic is communications coor-dinator for Europe and Central Asia.

Renovations: A Possible Urban Solution?continued from page 3

Renovating the common bathroom on the fourth floor of the building was an important part of HFH Beius’ project in the Romanian apart-ment.

relationships with other children in the unit. The cluster guardian acts like a surrogate mom for all the children in the village. • New Houses: Housing i s designed similar to traditional Habitat single-family dwellings of two to three bedrooms. The idea of a cluster is similar to the living arrangements of many extended family groups in sub-Saharan Africa, where married children build their homes and raise their families close by their parents’ house to benefit from extended family support. The guardian’s house is part of the cluster so she/he can immediately respond if there is need.• Shared Kitchens and Latrines: Depending on the traditions of the community, kitchens and latrines may be shared with other families in the cluster. This would reduce the cost of building for each family, as well as enable the cluster guard-ian to care for more children at the same time. Private kitchens and latrines may be added later once children have grown.

• Community Integration: The cluster is located within the com-munity where the children had lived before. Ideally the cluster would be located near a school, community center or AIDS resource center, so that children can access care without having to walk long distances alone, when they would be vulnerable to abuse.• Income Generation: Oppor-tunities for income generation are incorporated into the design of the cluster. For example, food from a cluster garden can be sold or kindergarten care can be provided for profit to other (non-orphan) families in the community.

Vulnerable ChildrenAIDS puts children at risk of abuse, malnutrition, poor health, emotional distress and death even while their parents are still alive. Reducing this vulnerability requires changes to more than just house design. • Community AIDS Resource Centers: Communities should be

encouraged to use the skills they have gained through Habitat for Humanity in construction, finan-cial management and resource development, as well as the posi-tive experiences of volunteering and mutual help, to build centers where affected children and fami-lies can go for assistance.• Skills Development: Orphaned youth could help carry water to the build site or they could work closely with skilled builders and learn a trade. Apprenticeships in construction trade take focus and time, but the results can be life changing.• Partnerships with Community Care Givers: Across sub-Saharan Africa, concerned members of the community are encouraged to participate in a community AIDS forum through which they discuss the needs, resources and possible solutions to mitigating the impact of AIDS on their com-munity. Volunteers are recruit-ed and trained to visit orphan families, assist in cooking nutri-tious meals, check that orphans

are properly clothed, help with schoolwork and offer love. Partnerships between Habitat for Humanity and these AIDS forums and/or the NGOs that promote them are an opportunity to address all the basic needs of orphans and vulnerable children and to promote transformational, sustainable community develop-ment.• Secure Tenure: Habitat affili-ates need guidance about how to plan for an increasing number of homeowner deaths, managing the financial impact of loans that cannot be repaid and the social impact of orphaned children living in Habitat houses.

Kathryn Bistline is the evaluation and research specialist for HFH’s programs in the Middle East/East Africa region.

1 UNAIDS, UNICEF, November 2003.2 Ibid.

Vo l ume 11 Numbe r 2 Internat iona l Af f i l i a te Update 6

HFH Senegal: Reducing House Costs and Making Better Use of Space by HFH Senegal staff

ituated in West Africa, Senegal has a population of 10,284,929 and

a surface area of 196,722 square kilometers, which means an average density of 50 inhabitants per square kilometer. The country has an uneven terrain and a warm, wet, tropical climate.

The country is facing a rural exodus and rapid demographic growth, resulting in families with more than 10 people living in one house.

HFH Senegal, in partnership with the CCHTT1 cooperative, chose a special model to meet the needs of the people, while still meet-ing the criteria of Habitat houses —simple, decent, affordable.

Access to apartments or other housing is not easy because the average monthly rent of US$100 is far beyond most people’s sala-ries. HFH Senegal house designs have provisions for increasing the number of rooms by building an upper level. This allows the fami-lies to accommodate more house-hold members than planned for at the time of selection.

The SiteThe affiliate is located at the base of the peninsula of Dakar in the ZAC Urban Area, which insulates urban Dakar and the rural interi-or regions. It lies on the only road between Dakar and the interior of the country. The area, called ZAC, was recently rezoned and delim-ited for housing and will soon become populated by thousands of people, which will take some of the pressure off the city center. There are many housing coopera-tives and schemes in this area, and in total, about 1,000 houses will be built in the area. The affiliate in ZAC Mbao is HFH Senegal’s first

housing site and is well supported by state-provided infrastructure. The zone already has an elemen-tary school, community center and football ground. The HFH-CCHTT site has 28 plots of land measuring 150 square meters.

House ConstructionThe house design adopted by HFH Senegal is unique; it repre-sents the realities of the environ-ment and meets the needs of the beneficiaries. The house design covers 41 square meters for one bedroom, kitchen and bath. All are juxtaposed to frame a central open area protected from the hot, tropical days. From this internal open space, there is direct access to the living room, bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom with a shower.

The foundation is built of 14 pedestals, one meter deep, with columns of reinforced concrete rising from each pedestal. The bricks of the foundation are blocks of cement. This house plan allows for two sorts of future additions. First, walls can be added onto the

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small inner courtyard, making it a new living room. The former living area can then be trans-formed into a bedroom. Another supplementary bedroom could be extended outward from the cur-rent floor plan. Second, when the homeowner can afford it, an addi-tion can be built upward, making a second level. The foundation is designed so that it can bear two additional levels, given the abil-ity of the homeowner to pay off his/her home and then pay for the additional construction.

The walls rise straight up from the foundation, and above the concrete roof there are two additional rows of bricks. The

extra rows above the roof hide the roof and aid in water drainage.

Each door and window has a girder in the concrete. All the walls are plastered with a mixture of sand and cement. In addition, the exterior walls are painted with a white base paint for protec-tion. A homeowner can decide to paint the walls with color after they move in the house. The open

space has a solid cement floor made of a mixture of cement and sand, which appears glossy and smooth and gives the finishing touches to the house.

The concrete roof is flat, built with paving stone to resolve the problematic cost of imported wood. It also is not like corrugat-ed iron sheets, as used elsewhere in Africa. The corrugated iron would rust in the salty dew blow-ing in from the ocean in Senegal.

Simple, Decent and CompleteEvery house has all main com-ponents to meet the needs of the families. Water and electricity are

The house design adopted by HFH Senegal represents the realities of the environment and meets the needs of the home-owners.

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HFH Senegal’s first housing site is well

supported by state-provided infrastructure.

The zone already has an elementary school,

community center and football ground.

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supplied when the house is dedi-cated. According to the demarca-tion of the plots of land, some houses are connected as duplexes or row houses, while others are isolated depending on the street angles.

The HFH Senegal and CCHTT Partnership The partnership is bound by a memorandum of understanding stipulating that the priorities are housing and serving families with the greatest need first. The cost of the houses is shared on a 50-50 basis. The cooperative mem-bers save together and pay for half the cost of the house, while HFH Senegal pays for the other half. The agreement between the partners stipulates the support of HFH Senegal in the construc-tion and in meeting the needs of homeowners by offering low-cost houses. The low-income homeowners are further aided by the CCHTT because they ben-efit from GIE,2 a membership society of construction workers with privilege of decreased taxes; members can purchase construc-tion materials and buy a plot of land with decreased taxes. With the knowledge the cooperative is gaining with HFH, they can con-tinue to build on their own and accelerate the rate.

In addition to the ongoing project in ZAC, HFH Senegal con-tinues to seek partnerships with other cooperatives and address the urban housing problem.

1 Coopérative de Construction et d’Habitat des Travailleurs de Taïba—The Taiba Employees (in construction and habitat) Cooperative. 2 Groupment d’Interet Economique (Group of Economic Interest).

Asia and the Pacific

When the 6.9 earth-q u a ke s t r u c k on January 26,

2001, in Gujarat, India, it sent shock waves throughout the state. Entire towns, villages and major portions of cit-ies were leveled or exten-sively damaged. Figures of the death toll are estimat-ed as high as 19,988 peo-ple, with an estimated 1.6 million being injured. Some 300,000 houses were com-pletely destroyed and nearly 900,000 were damaged. It is estimated that some 16 mil-lion persons were severely affected.1

Contractors who had used inferior building materials to save costs were blamed for most of the damage. Foundations crum-bled, buildings collapsed and walls caved in, trapping whoever was inside the structures. When Habitat for Humanity took up the task of rebuilding in Gujarat in 2002, strict construction plans were followed to minimize dam-age during future high-intensity earthquakes.

Jack Blanchette, director of appropriate construction technology for HFH’s Asia and the Pacific area, explains, “Withstanding natural disas-ters is a bit of a misnomer; we try to build houses that resist damage in natural disasters. No matter how well, or how strong, we build a house, there will come a disaster that will significantly damage or destroy it. We work to minimize the damage.”

To provide housing that could withstand the high inten-

sity of earthquakes, Habitat for Humanity used appropriate con-struction technology designed to withstand earth movements of high-intensity situations:

• Proper Sites: Picking a build-ing site that is as safe as pos-sible—a site that is not subject to slippage, flooding, etc.

• Proper Des ign: Openings such as doors and windows should not exceed specific lim-its depending on wall size and should not be placed to close to corners.

• Proper Cement Mix: Adding the proper proportions of cement, sand and gravel to yield a consistent and strong cement mix.

• Proper Re-enforcement: Add-ing steel re-enforcement, for example, will hold the house together during an earthquake.

• Roof: The roof needs to be properly attached and support-ed. It is critical that the roof

not be too heavy for the walls to be able to adequately sup-port it. Roofs need to be tied down properly, especially in hurricane-prone areas, to stay in place in high winds.

“In Gujarat we built hous-es that met this criteria, with strong and deep foundations,” says Blanchette. “When I com-pare the houses that HFH built in Gujarat, I found that no organiza-tion other than HFH, at least that I saw, was building founda-tions that were two meters deep. During the construction process I saw many non-HFH houses that were already suffering substantial cracking.”

Mikel Flamm is a photojournalist for HFH in Asia and the Pacific.

1 Independent Evaluation of Expenditure of DEC India Earthquake Appeal Funds January 2001–October 2001, Volume 2, Full Evaluation Report, Humanitarian Initiatives, UK Disaster Mitigation Institute, India. http://www.dec.org.uk/uploads/documents/DECVol2fullreport.pdf

Withstanding Future Disasters by Mikel Flamm

A volunteer constructs a wall meant to resist future earthquakes in Gujarat, India.

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permanent materials. Using the Core Building Concept, houses’ costs can be lowered and lower income families can be reached without being so restrictive regarding house size. The fam-ily may be able to have a full-size regular house, however we assist them to receive that house in affordable bites.”

One family in Sri Lanka made their own bricks using clay from their land. Using a simple wooden mold, the homeowner made all of the bricks used in this house. Before he placed the bricks in a simple oven he had made, the bricks were dried in the sun for several days. The lumber for the roof of the house came from a tree on the homeowner’s proper-ty. Thus, construction costs were cut to a minimum by using clay and timber from the family’s land.

In several of the con-struction locations, existing foundations are used for the new houses, which in turn cuts the costs of construc-tion and reduces the mort-gage.

Mikel Flamm is a photojour-nalist for HFH in Asia and the Pacific.

usually the sleeping quarters, is built first. However, it is built in such a manner that additional rooms—i.e., a kitchen, a second or third bedroom, etc.—can be easily added onto the first. This can be done in three or more stages. This concept came about to lower house costs with the ability to reach more families in the lower income bracket.”

“The beauty of this concept is that the family can eventu-ally have a house larger than it would have had the affiliate built the entire house,” says Blanchette. “Another way to implement the Core Building Concept is to utilize local materials such as bamboo, a less permanent material, for walls. This can be replaced at a later date with more

he Save and Build concept had its beginnings in Sri Lanka, initiated

by Aruna Paul and HFH Sri Lanka’s national director, Basil Fonseka. The idea was to select families with the greatest need for a simple and decent place to live. These families did not have a regular income, but were from the rural community whose income was seasonal.

It was the belief that the communities should take the leadership and ownership in their bid to get out of the cycle of poverty. In the Save and Build scheme, groups of 12 families are formed and each group saves a speci-fied amount of money for a period of six months.

Once they have saved enough to pay for one house, Habitat for Humanity will match the amount to build two more houses. The group contin-ues to save and build until all 12 families have their own house, which takes a period of two years. This concept has been able to reach more families in need.

Jack Blanchette, direc-tor of appropriate con-struction technology for the Asia/Pacific area, explains, “Save and Build really operates similarly to any construction. The difference comes in when Save and Build utilizes the Core Building Concept, when that part of the house which is most needed,

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Save and Build: Reaching Out to More Families in Needby Mikel Flamm

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Top: Women in Lishanao, China, work on the site of a Save and Build project in the Miao village. Bottom: A group of women from the Matali village in Sri Lanka review information about Save and Build.

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icaragua at the end of October 1998: From the Atlantic coast,

winds of 287 kilometers per hour, low pressures of 905 millibars and gusts of wind up to 320 kilometers per hour struck the fragile human settlements in the east and center of the country and moved in search of the Pacific coast, tearing down everything in their way. The rain that followed preceded the quick floods, avalanches and landslides.

The result: Thousands of deaths, communities that disap-peared and devastated houses—it is impossible to report exact figures. Hurricane Mitch is con-sidered Central America’s worst hurricane of the century and the second most deadly in the history of the Atlantic Ocean.

With scenes that were hard to imagine, the hurricane was the preamble to humanitarian gestures of all kinds. The greatest need was to provide a safe shelter for thousands of families who were outdoors.

Turning Faith into ActionMillard Fuller, founder and presi-dent of HFHI, visited the affected zones of Nicaragua. New Habitat for Humanity affiliates started operations. The Matagalpa affili-ate, located in the northern part of Nicaragua, 130 kilometers from Managua, the capital, undertook the first challenge: to build 100 houses with affected families.

The response had to be quick. The Waswalí community was started five kilometers from

downtown. The speed of the situ-ation demanded quick and safe solutions. The Knight Foundation in the United States gave HFH Nicaragua the money to buy 130,000 square meters of land. Then we started to worry: Lacking construction materials and with the typical slowness of traditional construction systems, how could we quickly build 100 houses in an environment of extreme need?

Convintec: An Adequate Response It is difficult to detach ourselves from our habits and trust inno-vative techniques. In Waswalí, some families accepted this chal-lenge; 67 houses would be built with Covintec, which was new in Nicaragua. The remaining 33

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Changing Our Waysby Belkis Santiesteban García

Habitat homeowners and volunteers work in Waswalí, Nicaragua, to replace houses destroyed by Hurricane Mitch. Covintec was used on 67 of the initial 100 houses built after the disaster.

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ustaining the orga-nization while tak-ing care of the country’s poorest

families is a key concern when considering those applicants who have very limited finan-cial resources. Although these families cannot afford the usual monthly house payment of US$20-25, the organization cannot give away houses.

With this in mind, HFH Bolivia is looking for alternatives to better serve the most destitute families. Rather than refuse these applicants, we prefer to seek out housing solu-tions that are within their means while keeping an eye on the future. One of the ways we are doing this is to initially offer families smaller, more affordable houses that are both functional and appropriate for the size of the family.

HFH Bolivia: Exploring Progressive Housing by Gonzalo Camacho

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families preferred to build tradi-tional brick houses.

Benefits of CovintecThis innovative system offered the following benefits: greater struc-tural resistance; quick installation; easy transportation; great versa-tility; cost reduction, especially in terms of transportation; isolation from exterior and between-room noise; isolation from humid-ity; easy inventory and control of materials; seismic-proof; and people with ample experience with installations in the USA.

Despite all these character-istics, it was difficult to fight the reluctance to change in a country with a great history of natural disasters (hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsuna-mis, landslides, floods, etc.) and long civil wars. It was difficult to

imagine that the poroplast panels covered with a three-dimensional steel structure and concrete could resist the impact of a stray bullet or the first tremors of a quake.

A Successful InterventionSixty-seven houses were con-structed with Convintec. Several work teams from the United States assisted in construction, bringing valuable experience with this innovative system.

Five years have passed with other rainy phenomena and great contrasting droughts. The Covintec houses that were raised as a tribute to trust still stand—they are beautiful and very safe.

This experience taught us that there are good changes; that we should not close our eyes to the new advances; that humanity is able to improve itself; that trans-formation makes us grow; and that those who do not triumph are only those who do not try.

Waswalí stands with its 100 houses, and I personally believe that many generations of Nicaraguans will see these houses and will not tell the difference from block or brick walls.

An AchievementHFH Nicaragua wanted to build quickly in response to the urgent need, and we did it. We wanted to grow even when the Matagalpa affiliate had been operating for only

days, and we have. We expect that other changes will help us grow and better ourselves as in those difficult post-Hurricane Mitch days. Thanks to all who trusted.

Belkis Santiesteban García is the communications coordinator for HFH Nicaragua.

The Waswali community now stands with 100 completed houses, thanks in part to Covintec building technology.

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Changing Our Wayscontinued from page 9

Progressive housing is not the solution. Rather, it is the begin-ning of the transformation—the dawn of a better tomorrow. HFH Bolivia is undertaking progressive housing to:

• Develop greater sustainability.• Help those in greatest need.• Develop permanent alternatives.• Eliminate any form of discrimi-

nation.

“Progressive housing” means building according to the need, socioeconomic situation and technical requirements (such as the number of occupants) of the family. It also refers to gradual construction development, with no alternation to the main mod-ule but simply making additions.

HFH Bolivia’s progressive houses are designed so that rooms may be added both horizontally and vertically; that is, rooms may be added on the ground level, but provisions are made so that a second floor can be added as well. Houses are generally built in

“modules,” which allow families to customize the homes for their own needs. The first module of the progressive house measures 30 square meters and includes a kitchen, bathroom and multi-purpose area; a completed base module, without a second floor, measures 60 square meters and includes a kitchen, bathroom, living room and three bedrooms.

The houses are designed not only to meet the personal and economic needs of the families, but also to address cultural, social and environmental factors in the community. Each house, in each stage of development, is a result of its surroundings.

Gonzalo Camacho is the national director of HFH Bolivia.

Families that live in mud shacks like this are among the poorest families in Bolivia. They can be better served through progres-sive housing than the more tra-ditional Habitat model.

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Internat iona l Af f i l i a te Update Vo l ume 11 Numbe r 2 11

Each year in September, Habitat for Humanity International sets

aside a special week to cel-ebrate its partnership with churches and the faith com-munity. The celebration is twofold:

The first emphasis is on building. Habitat for Humanity is about building houses. During Building on Faith week, Habitat groups are urged to break ground for, blitz build, work on or dedi-cate one or more church-spon-sored houses.

Be bold. Step out in faith and

stretch a little further. Create a plan and reach out to new church-es. Many churches have had their first experience with Habitat for Humanity through a Building on Faith project.

The second emphasis is on community worship. Bring together the entire faith commu-nity to praise God and to celebrate the work of Habitat for Humanity in your area. Make plans to include as many people as possible. Pack the church to create energy and offer thanksgiving.

Imagine Your Story Imagine the sermon of love that HFH could preach if every Habitat organization around the world celebrated Building on Faith 2004! This year will mark the 10th anniversary of this annu-al focus on church partnerships,

and we want you to be part of the celebration.

See What Other Habitat Groups Have DoneHabitat supporters have organized many creative Building on Faith events over the years. Look at the following documents on PartnerNet to inspire your thinking:• “Building on Faith Highlights”

document. • Planning Your Building on Faith

Events manual.• Church Relations News. The

fourth quarter issues from 2002 and 2003 offer a glimpse at

some of the exciting projects that others have planned.

Theme—10 Years of Building on FaithHow can you connect with the number 10? Recruit 10 new part-ners; celebrate the 10th anniver-sary of a local church or coalition of churches; plan a 10-day blitz, a 10-hour prayer vigil, etc. What do you imagine when you consider Jesus’ promise that “with God, all things are possible”?

Scripture FocusThe scripture focus for Building on Faith 2004 comes from Nehemiah 2:18, where we are reminded that Building on Faith is intended as a time for constructing houses:

I told them that the hand of my God had been gracious upon me,

Building on Faith 2004:

Celebrating 10 Years of Church Partnershipsby Pam Campbell

Create a plan and reach out to new

churches. Many churches have had their

first experience with Habitat for Humanity

through a Building on Faith project.

ith the challenge of providing a service of excellence to partner families, HFH Brazil searched for innovative technology to speed up the construction process and the final

touches on the houses. Speed, security and affordability were the prerequisites for forming an alliance between HFH Brazil and the El Paso company. The partnership consisted of a dona-tion for the construction of five houses and volunteer labor from employees of the partner company.

The “Building Houses, Sowing Peace” event was carried out in September 2002, in the Três Rios affiliate, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The metallic structure technology consists of an assem-bly kit of different laminated metal pieces that are bolted to form the metallic structure, the base for houses of 48 square meters. This metallic structure allows for the simultaneous construction of masonry and roof, thus speeding up the final result. By using metallic structure technology, by the end of three days of construction, the satisfaction of families and volunteers was evident when they saw the dream of a decent house come true.

The use of this technology reduced the construction time by 50 percent and lowered indirect costs. The total value of the house increased by only 10 percent when compared to houses built previously in the same affiliate. The families finished the houses in two and a half months.

Sheila Meneghette works with the public relations department at HFH Brazil.

Innovating for Sustainabilityby Sheila Meneghette

A new homeowner family poses outside their house in Brazil. The family built their home in partnership with the HFH Três Rios affiliate.

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continued on page 12

Vo l ume 11 Numbe r 2 Internat iona l Af f i l i a te Update 12

HFHI Mission StatementHabitat for Humanity works in partnership with God and people everywhere, from all walks of life, to develop communities with people in need by building and renovating houses, so that there are decent houses in decent communities in which every person can experience God's love and can live and grow into all that God intends.

International Affiliate Update Mission Statement The mission of the International Affiliate Update is to promote a borderless Habitat for Humanity by providing information, training and communication around the world by creating:

1. A vehicle of communication between Habitat for Humanity International and local Habitat affiliates.2. A vehicle for sharing and communicating among local Habitat partners.3. A blueprint for steady growth of the total Habitat organization and of the various local affiliates that make

up the organization.

121 Habitat St. Americus, GA 31709-3498 USA phone: (001) 229-924-6935 e-mail: publicinfo@hfhi.org worldwide web: www.habitat.org/

3498ENG/3237/SVP-PROG/4-04

provide specific details that show how your Building on Faith proj-ect is exemplary.

Please take time to fill out the information sheet, available from your area Church Relations staff contact person or on PartnerNet (search under “Building on Faith 2004 Information Sheet”). Return your completed form to your Church Relations area contact by June 1, 2004.

Pam Campbell is the church relations writer/editor for HFHI.

Building on Faith:

Fiji Build Opportunity

During the time period that coincides with

Building on Faith, HFH Fiji will host six Global Village work teams in partner-ship with the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association. The teams will build as part of “Fiji Fest 2004,” a festival-style evangelistic outreach ministry featuring Luis Palau, to be held in Suva, Fiji, Sept. 10-11. Some trips will conclude immediately prior to Fiji Fest and lead into the event, while others will begin at the conclusion of the festival. What a terrific opportunity to celebrate Building on Faith in another community!

Team leaders are seeking individuals who wish to participate in this exciting opportunity of service and fellowship. For more information about the trips planned in conjunction with Fiji Fest, please visit http://www.habitat.org/gv/luis_palau/default.html.

and also the words the king had spoken to me. Then they said, “Let us start building!” So they com-mitted themselves to the common good. (NRSV)

Help from Church RelationsChurch Relations staff members are always available to answer questions. Please contact the Church Relations representative for your area. You may also send an e-mail to churchrelations@hfhi.org.

Look in the Church Relations section of the Information Resources Catalog on PartnerNet for a listing of resources that can help you plan your event. Scroll down to the Building on Faith materials.

The Best of Building on FaithAt the end of Building on Faith week 2004, we will compile a col-lection of stories that demonstrate how Habitat groups organized

successful building and worship events. These stories will be post-ed on PartnerNet for others to consider as they plan their future Building on Faith celebrations.

Attracting Media CoveragePart of our task in Habitat for Humanity is to continually share our message. Our ability to attract media coverage depends largely on your telling your story and selling your ideas for ministry. You can help us attract media atten-tion and create a terrific “Best of Building on Faith” resource if you

Building on Faith 2004: Celebrating 10 Years of Church Partnershipscontinued from page 11

The home of Timoci and Salote Magitigusuna was dedicated during Building on Faith week in 1999 in the Tovata community of Fiji.

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