Habitat campaign to build houses for displaced slum dwellers

An initiative of a Christian housing ministry will see decent and affordable houses built for poverty-stricken families living in resettlement colonies across Delhi.

Over 100 volunteers of the Habitat for Humanity will be building houses in the resettlement colonies of Savda Ghevra and Bhalaswa on Saturday.

The day's events will be inaugurated by Kiran Mehra Kerpelman, the Director of the UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan.

The event is part of a one-day blitz build challenge when more than 4,000 young Habitat volunteers across Asia Pacific will lay bricks and wield hammers to support nearly 500 families in India, China, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

The volunteers include those from the Salvation Army, Bloomberg, Whirlpool, Madhok Foundation, local churches, among others.

Bhalaswa is situated on the North-Western edge of Delhi, near to the MCD landfill site at
Jahangirpuri. The colony was set up in November 2000 when many slum dwellers were evicted from the Yamuna Pushta area of Delhi.

The community in Bhalaswa suffers many hardships including a drastic water situation. Habitat for Humanity has been working to build and improve housing in the area with its partner Chetanalaya for a number of years.

Besides Bhalaswa, Habitat for Humanity will also build stable houses at Savdha Ghevra, a semi-rural resettlement colony in North West Delhi. The Christian ministry will be building 41 homes for disabled men and women and their families here.

Plots for these houses were allocated to them after many years of persistent advocacy by The Madok Foundation, a partner organisation. The houses are being funded by a grant from The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, Delhi-NCR Chapter (CREDAI NCR) and HDFC Bank.

The multi-country build event marks the culmination of the five-month long Habitat for Humanity Youth BUILD campaign to raise funds for, and awareness of, the dire housing situation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tens of thousands of young people have used their social and digital networks to encourage people to donate and more than 300,000 people have been reached with the campaign's message.

"We have been overwhelmed by the great online response to the Habitat Youth BUILD campaign. Asia's youth have really taken the cause of tackling substandard housing to heart and run with it," said Rick Hathaway, Asia-Pacific vice president for Habitat for Humanity International.

"Having a decent home can transform lives, as it opens the doors to improved health, better performance in school, greater economic opportunities and increased community spirit."

Eric Christopher, CEO, Habitat for Humanity India, adds: "Owning a decent place to live breaks the chain of poverty and enables a family to climb the ladder of economic independence from a firm ground."

The United Nations estimates that more than 500 million people in the Asia-Pacific region live in slums, representing more than half of the world's slum dwellers.