Build a house, build a life
A house is not solely just a physical building that can protect families from the scorching sun, rain, or exposure to nature—and shelter—but also encompasses the atmosphere of life interacting within itself, that is, “family,” be it from social, cultural, and economic aspects. Therefore, a house becomes a place to live with the family—an environment that offers safety, comfort, and happiness.
A house is a foundation for families, where life takes place in a building that gives happiness and peace to those inside; a place that offers physical and spiritual safety and comfort, a place for children to play and learn from a young age to reach a milestone and a bright future, as well as improving the living standards of the families.
A house being the core of Habitat for Humanity services will ultimately have a broad impact, such as:
- Social values: aside from an increase in the value of the buildings, the construction of livable houses enhances the dignity of families in the community.
- Health: livable houses provide families with a better understanding of the meaning of healthy living, resulting in a clean home and environment that reduce the vulnerability to diseases that may harm their health.
- Valuable Assets: a house becomes a highly-valued personal property.
- Prosperous Communities: the existence of a livable house changes lifestyles, thus promoting a healthy, clean, and comfortable environment.
- Education: through livable houses, children could have a safer and more comfortable place to learn, “my home is my study place”.
- Safety: through livable houses, families are more guaranteed to have better privacy and security compared to their previous homes.
Ibu Suhaeni’s Story
One of the families that were helped by Habitat Indonesia was Ibu Suhaeni—a 52-year-old woman living in Kedung Dalem—Mauk, Tangerang. The economic factor Ibu Suhaeni faced prevented her from achieving her dreams of having a livable house.
The economic condition did not make Ibu Suhaeni give up on the situation. Ibu Suhaeni once worked as a grain labourer at her neighbour’s rice field and as a vegetable seller, just enough to meet her daily needs. However, now Ibu Suhaeni could only depend on her child as she was physically unable to return to work. She revealed that previously, her house had bamboo-based walls and roofs, which were very unsafe to stay in. Her house leaks when it rains, and floods even enter her home. Not only that, snakes often enter the room when she is asleep due to the location of her house being near the rice fields.
Habitat Indonesia telah berhasil mewujudkan impian Ibu Suhaeni untuk memiliki rumah layak. Kini Ibu dapat menikmati masa tuanya di rumahnya yang layak. Beliau tinggal seorang diri semenjak suaminya meninggal dunia beberapa tahun lalu, anaknya telah berkeluarga dan tinggal tidak jauh dari rumahnya. Tak hentinya juga Ibu Suhaeni mengucap syukur, wanita berumur 52 tahun bisa tersenyum lepas impian memiliki hunian layak yang aman dan nyaman dapat terwujud.
Habitat Indonesia has made Ibu Suhaeni’s dream of having a livable house come true. Nowadays, Ibu can enjoy her old age in a decent home. She had to live alone ever since her husband passed away a few years ago; her child has a family and lives nearby. Ibu Suhaeni also never stopped giving thanks; the 52-year-old woman could smile freely now that her dream of having a safe and comfortable home could come true.
Habitat Indonesia hopes to be able to continue doing humanitarian missions to make the dreams of low-income families come true, and Habitat believes that through building houses, we build life and hope.
With Habitat, #BersamaMembangunIndonesia
Houses were built in total
Families served in total
