Magbayanihan Tayo:
'Let Us Build Together'
- By Pat Curry -

	JCWP Locations Bacolod City Dumaguete City General Santos City Maragondon Parañaqe Tagbilaran City

"Habitat volunteers have a unique ability to break down barriers," former U.S. President Jimmy Carter told thousands of volunteers and guests at the 16th annual Jimmy Carter Work Project. "They have a magic carpet [with which] to travel a few feet or a few thousand miles to meet people who are different."

For six days, from March 21 to 27, the six JCWP sites in the Philippines served as something of a mini-United Nations. In the largest JCWP ever, some 14,000 volunteers from 32 countries shared their skills, their enthusiasm and their sweat to build safe, decent shelter in Parañaque, Maragondon, Bacolod City, Dumaguete City, General Santos City and Tagbilaran City (see accompanying map for locations).

Wide angle view of a house under construction in the Jimmy Carter Work Project.

The excitement for the project began long before the volunteers arrived, jet-lagged (the record appeared to be held by George Chimasula of Malawi, who chalked up some 32 hours of travel time), but ready to start work.

What was originally described as a blitz of 250 houses ultimately exceeded expectations and before volunteers headed home with sore muscles and plentiful memories, the JCWP participants had mixed enough mortar, laid enough block, raised enough trusses and installed enough roofs to house 293 families.

The theme for the 1999 JCWP, Magbayanihan Tayo, ("Let Us Build Together") had both biblical and Filipino cultural roots, where an entire village helps roof a neighbor's house or move the house to another location. That sense of partnership and cooperation is a hallmark of HFH Philippines, which had already built 2,000 homes before JCWP began.

At the main site in Maragondon, the project was a partnership between three organizations: Habitat for Humanity; World Vision Development Foundation, an arm of an international Christian relief and development organization; and Shoreline Kabalikat sa Kaunlaran ("Partner for Development") Inc., a Christian development organization formed and run by families in the area. World Vision Japan donated the funds to purchase the land, and World Vision Philippines funded a drainage/water system development and a new community center with a playground.

Richard Stearns, president of World Vision US, says the synergies between Habitat and World Vision were obvious. "World Vision has been working in this community since 1990, addressing things from clean water to education to food to micro-enterprise. We get involved with housing from time to time. When all the volunteers go home, World Vision is still here doing community development. It makes a lot of sense for us to be partners."

As always, the impetus for building a Habitat community in Maragondon came from the people.

One of the first residents to express the need for decent housing was Leonisa Salas, who lived with her husband, Salazar; their adult son, Patrocinio; and their 11-year-old granddaughter, Sunshine, in a tiny hut built of bamboo and nipa palm.

"Nanay Nisa (as Leonisa is fondly known) was the first to identify people living in dangerous areas, near canals, the quarries or in the mountains," says Prescy Malimban, the World Vision area facilitator for Cavite province. "She anchored that vision and was the main protagonist."

Her persistence and vision brought her to the day when President and Mrs. Carter helped build her house along with Philippine President Joseph Estrada, as well as former presidents Fidel Ramos and Corazon Aquino.

Watching President Carter wipe the sweat from his brow as he laid block for her walls, Leonisa covered her face and wept. "Too much blessing from the Lord," she says.

The families weren't the only ones at JCWP who felt blessed by the sight of thousands of people -- from many nations, races, religions and backgrounds -- working together to finish these houses.

George Chimasula, a superior court judge in Malawi, saw an opportunity to educate others about the home country he deeply loves and to expand the size of his Habitat family. "When I look at the people here, they are just as warm, wherever they are from. I'm at home with all of them," he says. "It is the warmth of friendship within the Habitat family. I am impressed by the commitment to work here. When they call us for lunch, people say, 'Just let me finish this.' It is a lesson about fun and hard work and a commitment to get the work done."

Like many volunteers, Chimasula worked on a house sponsored by the Habitat affiliate from his homeland. More houses were sponsored by Habitat affiliates and national organizations than in any previous JCWP. "It means a lot to have an Africa house," he says. "I'm quite proud that I've contributed and sweated for this house. It's a dear house, this 'Mama Africa' house."

Certainly, none of the Maragondon volunteers will ever forget the mid-week fiesta in their honor. Walking the narrow street from the buses to the town square, they were greeted by thousands of beautiful, smiling residents who lined the streets, reaching out to shake hands, give them hand-made necklaces and thank them for coming to help their community.

The Philippines were chosen for the 1999 build for several reasons, says HFHI founder and president Millard Fuller. The hope is that the attention created by the build would spread the vision of Habitat throughout Asia and the Pacific area.
Outside the 1,100 Americans who traveled to the build, the largest group of volunteers came from Korea, where Habitat is barely five years old. While that country's five affiliates have built 23 houses there to date, they have built 77 in the Philippines.

On this trip, the volunteer group included several young potential leaders, who learned much about the Habitat concept of building, despite the fact that the construction method in Korea is completely different than that used in the Philippines.

"We want them to absorb the zeal for Habitat and observe," says Young Woo Choi, managing director of HFH Korea, where the goal is to establish 200 affiliates. "This is the spark to motivate the faith that it can work."

The trip was also considered valuable for what the volunteers would learn about other cultures, Choi explains. "Korea is a cultural island," he says. "We have 5,000 years of history in the same place and the same language. We aggressively encourage universities to send people overseas to become international, qualified leaders. This is not vacation time. Every student sacrificed class time [to be here]. One university president decided to give 30 students credit for this trip."

While some volunteers had helped build dozens of houses in their home affiliates, others were simply awestruck at the possibilities.

Chung Yee Chiew, chairman of an affiliate launched Jan. 30, 1999, in Malaysia, was part of a group of 10 organizers who came to the JCWP. "What really amazes me is there are thousands of people from 30-plus countries with one objective," he says. "This is a concept we could take to our government to get support from them."

Murari Sharma, the Nepalese Minister of Foreign Affairs, was one of several government officials invited by Habitat to experience the concept first-hand. "There is a sense of participation, community and helping each other," he says. "It's highly appreciated. These people have never had an opportunity to live in decent houses, and this could have a tremendous effect as a way of inspiring people to help themselves."

The hope for the legacy of this JCWP is that participants return home and duplicate the effort in their own communities.

"For the countries visiting, this has strengthened their vision," explains Rick Hathaway, 1999 JCWP director and HFHI's regional director for east and southeast Asia. "This has turned them into people who can empower other people. This is a big spark to light a fire that needs to grow and keep on burning." For HFH Philippines, JCWP served as a catalyst, introducing a whole new group of supporters, volunteers and potential family partners to Habitat.

National director Andrew Regalado shares just one of many examples of the project's potential: During the build in Bacolod, an elderly couple came to the site with a check for 2 million pesos, enough to build 25 houses. "JCWP is making a big difference, opening up the grace of God," he says. "We see an opportunity to work in a way that's concrete, focusing on a very serious problem. It's had a big influence to government opening up, giving us access to land. In all these people who came and supported, it means God is alive and working on each and everyone. It shows the whole country, when we work together, something meaningful happens. This will be the spark."


Pat Curry is a writer based in Athens, Ga. She volunteered her professional services to Habitat World during the JCWP in the Philippines.



Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, August/September, 1999.
This article may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
©1999 Habitat for Humanity International