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 large-scale housing project funded by the Indian government for internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka was launched. Habitat is to build 3,000 houses and repair 600 homes in the Eastern Province.

 

HFH Sri Lanka provides affordable homes through housing finance services. To build a new house in stages, a family can apply for a loan of 50,000 Sri Lanka rupees (about US$380) which is expected to be repaid within four years. After the initial loan is repaid, another loan can be taken out until the house is completed. For house repairs or renovations, a family can take out a loan of 25,000 Sri Lankan rupees and repay it in two years.

Our team is excited to build with a family whose dream is safe and affordable housing. Habitat for Humanity Canada’s Global Village Program is an international volunteer program that sends Canadians around the globe to work hand in hand with families who lack a decent place to live.  A Habitat home is a strong foundation for a family and an opportunity to build a better life. Stable homes help build strong and stable communities.