A Heart-Building Experience

By Victor Chanda

Imagine a world where everybody lives in a sturdy, well-constructed, weather resistant and affordable house. A world where every neighbour feels like a part of one big family. A world where every homeowner can proudly say ‘I built this house by the sweat of MY brow.’ Pipe dreams? I think not.

An organisation exists that turns any community that is willing to help themselves live in better conditions into a model for the entire society to not only admire but strive to emulate. This organisation is Habitat for Humanity Zambia. It has been operating in Zambia since 1984 and has to date built more than 1,000 housing units in the Southern, Western, Central, Copperbelt, North-western and most recently Lusaka provinces.

The system adopted by Habitat for Humanity Zambia (HFHZ) is simplicity itself! A community that has had its fill of living in houses that are unfit to be called houses approaches the organisation with their situation and desire to better their lot. The organisation undertakes a comprehensive education programme to send out a clear message about how the system works and also to answer any niggling questions that the community may have. To ensure that the programme runs for the community by the community, a local committee is elected and the office bearers then become the overseers of the day to day running of this proposing affiliate. There are three cardinal selection criteria; the ability to repay the loan, willingness to work within the stipulated guidelines of the programme and willingness to contribute the set period of volunteer labour (referred to as sweat equity). When these are met, then all is primed for the launch of work in that area. The resultant community is one that boasts of unity and solidarity beyond the norm.

I recently had an opportunity to participate in a volunteer build at one Kenneth Kaunda Work Project site. What struck me most was that unlike other times that I have volunteered and gone home feeling flattened by the utter minuteness of my contribution, the Habitat volunteering experience gave me an opportunity to actually see a structure rise from absolute zero to an abode in one week flat. I didn’t leave this experience with the guilt of being patronising but rather left feeling I had become a member of a large family that loved to help themselves in bettering their lives! I wasn’t some technocrat yelling instructions to lesser, unschooled mortals – I was just another volunteer! Being guided in the skills of laying blocks and mixing mortar and chiselling and anything else that the house leader had for me to do. It was simply awesome to actually see progress being made on the section of the house I was working on. It then dawned on me as I stood in reverent awe of the experienced artisans, just how hard it is to build a house.

For any individual or team that would like to go out and make a difference; Habitat for Humanity Zambia has just the event for you – the Kenneth Kaunda Work Project 2003. It will be a first-of- its- kind, an event that will see 500 volunteers converge on the building site on the Great North Road just opposite the SOS Childrens’ Village. For only the equivalent of US$50 for the entire week (covering transport from designated pick-up points, three meals a day, t-shirt and on-site entertainment), any person whose heart is in the right place can meet like-minded individuals and create bonds that will last a lifetime.

Further details about this and other Habitat for Humanity Zambia activities can be obtained by visiting www.habitatzam.org.zm , calling 232-249 or visiting the Habitat for Humanity Zambia offices on the 1^st Floor Impala House Chachacha Road Northend Lusaka.