Looking Back with Satisfaction at Habitat - Rotary's Project To Build Houses For The Poor

TV anchor Pooja Bedi, who is the goodwill ambassador (India and Asia Pacific) for Habitat for Humanity (HFH), addressed our Club on ‘Habitat’s efforts’. She has herself been hands-on in building houses for the poor through HFH at Mahad.

Our Club’s involvement with Habitat began with its efforts to rehabilitate the victims of the devastating tsunami of 26th December 2004. Together with RC Madras, HFH and others, we reconstructed the entire village of Sulerikappukuttam in Tamil Nadu, with 145 houses and a community hall. We also provided 44 mechanised boats, complete with life jackets, fishing nets and other equipment. The village reconstruction, which cost a total of Rs 6 crore, was inaugurated by the state’s Minister for Public Administration M K Stalin.

Pooja’s talk was preceded by IPP Gul Kripalani’s presentation on the Habitat project. “I took the Habitat project with great passion about two years ago,” he recounted. On 5th July 2005, when we had the Vice President of India Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as the chief guest, Rotary Club of Bombay (RCB) signed an agreement with HFH to build 10,000 homes before 2015.

“Three weeks after we signed this agreement, a tragedy struck Maharashtra. Rotarians collected over Rs 30 lakh for the rehabilitation of those affected.

“Soon afterwards, former US President Jimmy Carter came to Lonavla with Habitat volunteers and built homes for victims of the tragedy in Mahad. Pooja made five trips to Mahad and joined in building the houses. President Harry, Secretary Paul, incoming President Rumy Jehangir, Ashish Vaid were all there with Jimmy Carter and other celebrities, doing their bit. The entire community, which lost its houses and other belongings, worked shoulder to shoulder at the habitat project.

“Upon completion of the project, President Harry, Rumi Jehangir, Ashish Vaid, Paul and I visited the project. On 1st May, we handed over 78 beautiful homes to the affected families.

“This event was just a beginning. RCB and Inner Wheel Club have decided to carry on this good work. We have the Inner Wheel Club President Rashna Cooper with us, and also Mr Joseph Scaria, Vice President of the Mumbai-based Habitat.

“Encouraged by the Rotarians’ actions, women have formed Women India Builds, wherein women collect Rs 50 a day (ie. Rs 18,000 a year) which is matched by an equal amount by women in the villages and by Habitat, for constructing homes in villages,” said IPP Gul.

RASHNA Cooper asked, “If home is where the heart is, what must be like it is to have a heart without a home? For many Indian women, homelessness is a stark reality. Women India Builds seeks to solve this problem by building homes for underprivileged women in rural India.

“The ownership of these houses are handed over exclusively to the woman of the house to empower her. When you secure a woman, you secure a family. You ensure a minimum standard of living, decency, safety, education and health for her children. When you secure a woman, you invest in the future of our community. “On a project to build houses for the underprivileged in Lonavla last year, many women volunteers and I from the Inner Wheel constructed one such house. We lifted bricks, fixed window frames, mixed cement and did masonry for a day under the blazing October sun. It was an unforgettable experience!”

“People from different countries and speaking different languages came together to support a worthy cause. It was probably one of the most worthwhile days of my life.

“Recently, when I returned to the building site, I felt a lot of skepticism. ‘There is no electricity, no water supply. Who is actually going to come and live there? All the residents of these houses will sell away these dwellings and will be back on the streets.’ We heard all such remarks.

“And yet, what did I see? Rows upon rows of gleaming white houses with beautifully painted doors, overhead water tanks, electricity, and even a primary school. One hundred homeless families now have a place to call home!” concluded R’Ann Rashna Cooper.

POOJA Bedi began by saying, “I feel privileged to be amongst you all, Rotarians, because you care. Every one of you have put in time, energy, effort, money, consistently over the years — not only for this projects, but for hundreds of equally worthy projects — doing good to society and helping the needy.

“When Habitat’s Joseph Scaria came to me about 18 months ago asked me whether I could involve myself in the fund-raising activities of habitat, I replied in the negative, because I did not know what kind of organization HFH was and where would its funds went. Celebrities are approached by various organizations to help them raise funds, but where is the guarantee that funds would be spent for the right cause? I was skeptical.

“Later, I went to their website and learned that Kofi Annan and Jimmy Carter were working for Habitat. So I said that I would be happy to be on the boards, take part in the Habitat activities, but also watch where does the money went.

“The next three weeks saw me going to villages despite my busy schedule, to build 80-odd homes. At Mahad, chaos confronted us. Over 500 villagers there had suffered seriously from floods earlier and lost all their belongings, their cattle and all that mattered to them. They were living in temporary sheds in the blistering heat of a merciless summer sun — eating together and fighting together. It was a horrific, touching, moving sight. They were very upset that they were getting less land than what they had been promised by the government.

“Fortunately, we had a Sahara Samay correspondent with us. The power of media, coupled with the power of celebrities, works wonders. We could barge into the Collector’s office, pull out his maps, and tell him what kind of plots of land the local tribals should get. After many weeks of follow-up, we succeeded and got the land they needed and started building their houses. Extra money went in, and I must say that Rotary’s help has been tremendous.

“This project could never have been completed without the help of Rotary. These 500 plus people would not have been rehabilitated without Rotary’s support and Habitat’s weight,” said Pooja.