More than 50 percent of Mexicans, like Leonides Escobar, live beneath the poverty line. Leonides built her Habitat house in Veracruz in October 2004, but is pictured here at her former house.

Jimmy Carter Work Project 2004
Building Dreams...and Houses

by Rebekah Daniel

On the last day of the Jimmy Carter Work Project 2004 in Puebla, Mexico, the construction site was a study in controlled chaos. On Street 3, dozens of volunteers dropped their tools and grabbed a dancing partner to celebrate the completion of the houses with an animated mariachi band. On Street 2, homeowners and volunteers put the finishing touches on each house's customized landscaping flourishes. And on Street 1, a miracle was taking place: Miguel Diaz, who had spent years living with his brother's family to save money, was finally getting a house for his own family.

The Escobar family spent 10 years living in one room. Now, with the space their new Habitat house provides, they hope to be able to offer friends and family a comfortable place to visit.

Miguel had already tried to buy a house through a governmental program, but it turned out to be too expensive, even for someone with a job working with computers. Thus when he was told he was accepted for one of the JCWP 2004 houses, he was skeptical.

"Everything seemed to be good--too good," he said. "It was words. But hope is the last thing that dies. I saw results when I saw the land the houses are on, and now I'm happy."

Miguel took his week of Christmas vacation early to build his two-bedroom house. In 10 years, after 120 payments of about US$70, the mortgage will be paid off. The mortgage is affordable, he said, and the house has amenities he wouldn't have dared to ask for--a quiet corner lot, neighbors he considers friends, a view of mountains from his front window. At his house dedication, powerful emotions were quietly visible.

"Muchas gracias," Miguel said to the volunteers clustered in his living room. He paused to fight back tears. "The dream is reality."

It was indeed a week of dreams--and hard work. In Puebla and Veracruz, a total of 150 houses made of white Autoclaved Aerated Concrete blocks sprang from dusty foundations in five days. Thousands of hours of pre-build work went into ensuring that the construction sites, complete with retaining walls, infrastructure, food tents, security fences and sanitation facilities, would be ready for the 3,800 volunteers from 34 countries who came to measure, stack and scrape.

"In Latin America and the Caribbean, our primary building tool is a trowel," said Kip Scheidler, project director of the JCWP 2004. "It isn't a hammer. This was the first time that I know of that hammers weren't recommended for a Habitat for Humanity work site, and the first time that a hammer was not presented to the next year's JCWP hosts. The reality is that as a global ministry, there are numerous ways to build a house."

	'When we build walls of hope, we tear down walls of despair. When we build walls of dreams, we tear down walls of the unknown. When we build walls of security, we tear down walls of fear.' --Jimmy Dancy, volunteer in Puebla

And the reality in Mexico is that there is no shortage of people who need housing. According to the World Bank, there has been a reduction since 1995 in the number of people living in extreme poverty (living on less than $1 per day) in Mexico, but the rate remains 20.3 percent. More than half the people--51.7 percent--live in moderate poverty, defined as living on less than $2 per day.

Closely tied to the success of families in working their way out of poverty is the availability of land. Small farmers account for 27 percent of the rural poor, struggling to acquire plots large and fertile enough to grow crops for food and income. According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, another 29 million farming families have only seasonal or yearly access to land. Frustrated, many move to cities to look for work but carry their poverty with them; urban build sites with clear title, proximity to employment and no environmental dangers at affordable prices are rare.

Francisco and Leonides Escobar arrived at homeownership after years of standing in the doorway of the tiny room that they borrowed from a family member, watching their children play in the narrow, exposed hallway that connects the other rooms in the complex. The family of four spent a lot of time outside, their room barely big enough to hold them.

Although the family tried to get credit to buy a house through other programs, they were unsuccessful until they found out about the JCWP in Veracruz. "It's a dream come true to have a house of our own,"said Leonides. "Our children are excited about having their own room."

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