In the middle of our street

[cyrano]

Making the world a better place, one of my co-workers is using her vacation time to go to Argentina as part of a Habitat for Humanity project. H4H is one of the concerns I donate to regularly, and last year when she went to Ecuador I made a project-specific donation for her. I'm planning to do the same again this year, and I wanted to give you all the chance to do so as well.


From: Alisa Matsuzaki
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 5:20 PM
To: All
Subject: Building Hopes and Homes in Argentina



Dear friends,

As you know, last Thanksgiving I went to Guatemala as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity's Global Village program (see the attached photos). I worked side-by-side with people who need a decent place to live, helping to build simple, affordable houses. Because it was such an amazing experience, I will be doing it again! This Thanksgiving I will be going to Santa Fe, Argentina.

It is estimated that more than 40 percent of Argentines are living below the poverty line, 15 percent of which survive on less than $1/day. Loan facilities in this country for acquiring a house are very restricted, mainly because of the inflation processes that have affected the economy in the last decades. Half of the housing problems in Argentina could be solved by refurbishing or finishing existing
homes. However, over 30 percent of the population that suffers from sub-standard conditions is in need of a new home. The houses I will be building will have brick (ceramic, or cellular cement blocks) walls, and corrugated iron roves with wooden ceilings. Houses are between 43 and 53 square meters. Three-room houses have an estimated cost of US$4,830, to be repaid in a period of up to 12 years (this is not a hand out).

I often think about what my small but clean, warm and safe home means to me and how difficult it must be to raise a family in sub-standard conditions. It might be only one house at time, but I believe that this will make a huge impact on the lives of the family members. Don't you?

Please visit my Habitat Web page, where you can learn more about my trip:
http://www.habitat.org/cd/gv/participant/participant.aspx?pid=93000282

I'd be grateful if you would consider making an online donation to support my team's work. Any amount will be appreciated and it’s tax deductible for you.

Thank you for helping me build hopes and homes in Argentina!

Love,
Alisa

Comments

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

My niece has done work for H4H as well. She's been going down to New Orleans to build houses on her school breaks, (and hitting us up for donations.) So H4H has become another charity on our list.

Good folks.

[evilmagnus]

Props for the Madness reference. ;)