Student
Volunteers at Habitat for Humanity
By
Sybil Maimin
Brought
to public attention by former president Jimmy Carter when he and
other volunteers helped renovate a building in New York City in
1984, Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) partners individuals
of all backgrounds and ages with people in need of decent shelter.
Together, they build or fix a house. Habitat is not a giveaway
program. Its houses are sold to partner families at no profit,
financed by affordable no-interest loans. The monthly mortgage
payments are used to construct other homes. Founded in 1976, HFHI
has built more than 100,000 houses in over 2,000 communities around
the world. The movement is growing and is especially proud of
its student programs, which currently involve chapters at 600
colleges and universities and 100 high schools.
Campus chapters are student-led and run. Young people work with
local Habitat affiliates to build houses, educate peers about
housing issues, and do fund-raising. Special opportunities for
participation are available this summer. Collegiate Challenge
will involve one week of work at over 194 sites around the United
States. Foreign travel and working in other cultures for 1 to
3 weeks are features of the Global Village program. The eighteenth
annual Jimmy Carter Work Project will take place in Africa this
year where Habitat affiliates from that continent will partner
with volunteers from around the globe to build 1,000 houses in
eighteen countries. Former president Carter will participate at
a site in Durban, South Africa where 100 houses will be constructed
by over 2,000 volunteers during a five-day period. Student volunteers
report that knowing they will be impacting the lives of the family
they are working alongside of is an unexpected bonus. “Their home
will not only be a beautiful building, but it will be extra special
because of the emotions we all built into it.”
Habitat for Humanity is currently extending its message to all
school-aged youth. Child labor laws prohibit those under age 16
from working at construction sites but many other ways to help
are available. The youngest could sing at house dedications or
make greeting cards to be sold at fund-raisers. Older children
could do gardening, make picture frames or window boxes from wooden
scrapes from the site, learn about other countries and their housing
needs, or stuff envelopes. High schoolers could start a Habitat
chapter, baby-sit for volunteers, tutor partner family children,
or write and publish articles about their experiences with HFHI.
Proud of the work of his organization and encouraged by its growth
and vitality, Steve Messinetti, director of Campus Chapters and
Youth Programs in Georgia, proclaims, “Habitat for Humanity is
serious about getting young people all over the world and from
all walks of life involved in putting an end to sub-standard housing.”
Students are not paid for working at HFHI and must pay their own
travel expenses. For more information, log on to www.habitat.org.
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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