Hi! This a blog updating a group trip to Sri Lanka with Habitat for Humanity to help a needy family build a better home. By the time the nearly 30-year conflict in Sri Lanka ended in May 2009, many homes, schools and other infrastructure were destroyed, particularly in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. According to the United Nations, about 160,000 houses were damaged or destroyed in the Northern Province alone. Earlier, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami wiped out about 100,000 houses. In Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, Colombo, more than half of the population lives in informal settlements with limited access to clean water and safe sanitation. Habitat provides small interest-free loans to help families build or renovate their homes in stages. Families contribute their own labor, or sweat equity, toward building or renovating their homes. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami paved the way for HFH Sri Lanka to help nearly 3,000 families rebuild their homes. In May 2013, a larg...