Habitat for Humanity Resource Centres
Block making at a resource centre in Sri Lanka
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami left a legacy of destruction and loss of life that will never be forgotten.
Once the immediate suffering and needs had been dealt with by the disaster relief agencies, Habitat for Humanity took up what was to be one of the biggest challenges we had ever faced – to repair and build homes for as many of those that had lost everything in the catastrophe as we could possibly reach.
Our disaster reconstruction strategy is about giving communities the means to build their way out of poverty housing in the long-term.
One of the innovative ways in which we are doing this is by providing Habitat for Humanity resource centres.
Habitat resource centres – supporting communities across Asia
Habitat for Humanity resource centres broaden the reach of our home-building programmes by providing one or more of four principal types of help:
- construction services
- skills training
- disaster response
- housing microfinance
Most centres focus on construction management. Their engineers and architects offer design and architecture services, and supervise construction, logistics, procurement and transportation.
Resource centres also develop new building technologies and manufacture durable, cost-effective, environmentally-friendly building materials. These materials are used to build Habitat for Humanity homes and may be sold to a wider market to generate income and jobs for local communities. This often involves exploring and promoting appropriate local building traditions, many of which are being lost as building practices become standardised.
In addition, Habitat resource centres offer skills training to local construction workers and promote knowledge of traditional building practices. Habitat for Humanity resource centres provide a hub for working with partners to rebuild in disaster-stricken areas where large numbers of people have lost their homes. They have been particularly important in our rebuilding programme following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and in our response to the Pakistan and Indonesian earthquakes.
Our microfinance specialists work with partners to transform entire communities by making available our expertise in housing finance and working with volunteer management. Habitat for Humanity already operates resource centres in Afghanistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vanuatu. Vietnam and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region will follow shortly.
Flexible and Responsive
The Habitat resource centre concept is so flexible that it does not require a physical, on-site structure. Often the best way for homeowners and local builders to learn how to produce building materials and to be trained in new construction skills is by joining teams working elsewhere.
They can then take home their new knowledge and skills and apply them in their own communities. The flexibility of the resource centre concept proved its worth following the devastating December 2004 tsunami. Habitat staff in the affected countries used centres as key components in local response programmes.
As Habitat's response matures, the centres are being transformed into more typical resource centres, emphasising construction management, the sustained production of low-cost building materials and skills training.
Nurturing Innovation
All the elements that typify Habitat for Humanity resource centres – responsiveness to local needs; focus on quality and appropriateness; effective partnering; grassroots improvement – mean that they are often centres of innovation, translating the benefits of research into practical applications, promoting best practices in building and tangibly improving lives.
