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Through both personal and professional experience, Habitat World editor Milana McLead recognizes the value of a solid place to live. |
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by Milana McLead
"May the sweat, the laughter and the labor of all who helped to create this house strengthen and support it, as well as all who dwell here. Lead us to create a world where every person has a home, where justice is our central pillar and where equality is our shelter's roof. This we pray in the sight of all that is holy. Amen."
--A Habitat for Humanity prayer for a house dedication
I love awakening to the sound of rain on my roof. But then, I have the good fortune to live in a house with a solid roof. For millions of families--even in the United States--the fear of rainy nights, soaked bedding and shivering children relentlessly stalks their lives.
I've had the privilege of meeting some of these families. And it is, indeed, a privilege, for how can we appreciate that which we have until we lose it or walk alongside someone who goes without it?
In the 10 years I've worked for Habitat for Humanity, I've met scores of individuals who know firsthand the value of "home." I've worked alongside soon-to-be Habitat homeowners as they built their own house with their own hands, and I've felt their emotion as a simple, solid and safe home emerged before their eyes.
I've shared blood, sweat and tears with Habitat volunteers for whom "home" holds such meaning that they desire to help a stranger experience it, too.
These are the people who have helped teach me about what "home" means.
People like Lesley Nicholls, who volunteered her time to lead a Women Build project last year in New Zealand. She and her husband, Shane, own a successful house-building company today, but they know what it is to be without a home. She recalls the days when their three sons were young, and the family had to live in a tent because they had no home of their own.
"That was our lowest point. I understand what it feels like not to have a house," she says. "I believe a house becomes a home; it gives you walls for your body to rest its soul within. That's my motivation [to help Habitat]."
Tony Ng, a prominent businessman in the Philippines, also has faced poverty personally. He remembers his childhood with clarity and acknowledges that in the years since, he has "been blessed."
"We grew up with hardship," he says. "I recall when I was a young boy of 7 or 8, I was selling newspapers, shining shoes, roasting a pig [to help earn money for the family]. We lived in a place that we rented, which was ugly and decrepit. ... I help Habitat because it's a way of giving back. ... When you give a family the opportunity to live with dignity, they can piece [life] together. When they have a home, they have a stake in society."
And when they live within solid, secure and safe housing, they need fear the rain no more.
Thanks for reading ... and for building.
