The Opening Remarks from the National Director

“If God gave me two lives, then with those two lives, I should bestow them to our Motherland and Nation.” – Ir Soekarno.

The quote above illustrates the expression of love for Indonesia by the first Indonesia’s president, Ir. Soekarno. Now that we mention the word “love”, last February is known by many people as the month of love. In tune with the phrase of love by Ir. Soekarno, I was reminded of Habitat’s mission which echoes the spirit of love to our nation through building decent houses for the needs. I am grateful that in its 25th year of existence hundreds of thousands of families have felt the manifestation of love through Habitat’s mission.

Recently, I was touched by Ms. Tisha’s story, one of our home partners whom we met last November 2022 in Kedung Dalem Village, Mauk, Tangerang. Ms. Tisha is a single parent with four children who works as a member of the village’s Family Welfare Movement. One of her duties is to record the number of families who need decent houses. However, Ms. Tisha was also living in a non-decent house, but she had to put other families first to help those who lived in a far worse conditions. Ms. Tisha and her children could only be patient and hope there would be help because when the rain came, her house was always flooded, and with her children, she couldn’t sleep. They had to seek a safe place within her house to wait until the rain stopped. 

Everything is beautiful in its time. Finally, Ms. Tisha was registered as the one who received a house from Habitat. Her children were joyful after receiving the news that they always asked, “Mom, when will it be built?”. Ms. Tisha couldn’t describe her happiness after receiving a decent house. “I feel like I can fly; I am pleased,” she said. Now, Ms. Tisha and her children can peacefully live a safe life. “The main thing is I don’t have to worry about leaving my children at night in our house,” she said.

In the near future, Habitat will share the love of the low-income families in Babakan Madang, Sentul, Bogor, on March 18, 2023, through the Financial Institutional Build program. To carry on with love for our nation, as echoed by Bung Karno, I invite every leader from various financial institutions to share the love by supporting Habitat Indonesia in providing decent houses through this program. Let us walk hand in hand, together roll up our sleeves to build a better hope for our nation’s future. 

Regards, 

Susanto