The Year of the Trees
By Milana McLead

For Domy Nadziei HFH (Homes for Hope) in southern Poland, 1999 was known as the "year of the trees." The affiliate had acquired a 9,700-square-meter building site from the city of Gliwice in 1998; the site had the potential for as many as 45 Habitat houses.

Great news, except for one thing: State and local environmental ordinances required a fine for every single tree cleared to make way for construction. Initially, authorities projected that the fine for clearing the estimated 1,800 trees and bushes on this particular site would be some US$325,000--an amount equal to the cost of almost 10 of Habitat's houses there. Despite the impending fine, the affiliate was able to continue construction on the first two buildings at the site.

After 18 months of negotiation and the "prayers of many people," by the end of 1999, executive director Adam Krol and new affiliate development director Czeslaw Czudek could finally proclaim the year of the trees to be over.

"With time, legwork, intervention and prayer, the final fine came to a cost of 2,500 zlotys (US$600)," Czudek reports. "This cleared the way for the rest of the building site." For its part, Domy Nadziei committed to plant 100 new trees around the area.

At last, this was good news for Habitat and Gliwice. The affiliate already had completed two five-unit buildings; now the land in question could be cleared for construction of the next six-unit row-house buildings. Since the resolution of the tree problem at the end of last year, Domy Nadziei will soon dedicate its newest six row-house units, another two buildings are under construction and the tree planting is complete.

Land issues still hinder progress for Habitat elsewhere in Poland. In Wroclaw, one of Habitat's newest affiliates in Poland faces challenges in acquiring land and services. "City offices do not understand Habitat's ideals," says Czudek, "and give no hope for a building site at preferential prices. This lifts our costs immensely."

The housing need in Gliwice and Wroclaw reflects that of the country. Some 70 percent of the nation's people live in tiny flats within grim multi-story concrete buildings. Often, multiple generations of families are forced to double and triple up in small flats--causing overcrowding and its attendant psychological, health and other problems.

Without question, the lack of shelter in the country is great.

"Recent calculations are discouraging," says Czudek. "Poland needs more than 2.2 million houses or flats to solve the housing problems. This is an enormous amount, but Homes for Hope in Gliwice proves an old and sometimes forgotten truth: With God, all things are possible."


Milana McLead is editor of Habitat World.





Reprinted from Habitat World Magazine, August/September 2000.
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©2000 Habitat for Humanity International