We started operations to fight housing poverty in Honduras in 1989 and continue to build safe and decent homes in vulnerable communities.
Home is a fundamental human need.
Home is the start of everything – a foundation from which families can grow, communities can thrive, and children can live happily and healthily.
Honduras is just one of the many countries where we work. With a quarter of the population struggling to survive on less than £1.60 a day and 50% of rural households without a supply of electricity, the need for decent housing and infrastructure is critical.
Germán and his Grandchildren
In the early evenings, Germán sits on the front porch of his new Habitat for Humanity home in Santa Cruz, Honduras. It’s the perfect spot to watch his grandsons, Jobeth (pictured) and Josué play football outside.
“My grandchildren are my life. They are everything. Everything”,
It hasn’t been easy raising his two grandsons but, through one of our building projects, Germán applied for a Habitat for Humanity home. He threw himself into working with us on the construction, helping to build the cinderblock foundation. As well as the stability of a decent home, the housing development has helped establish a sense of community too, bringing with it a support network of neighbours who help look after the boys when Germán goes to work at a nearby corn mill.
“They are happy to spend time with our neighbours – they prefer their cooking too!” he jokes. “It is everyone’s dream to own a home…I dreamed what it would be like. I go outside with my little chair and take a look around. I feel good. I feel so good”.
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Estella and her Grandson
As a young woman Estella played guitar in her father’s Latin pop band. Now 83, she can look back on many good times during her long life. But she has also had her share of serious difficulties. Only a few years ago, she and her grandson, Manuel (23), were living in a shack made of scrap materials.
The home had faulty electrics and no bathroom. During the heavy rains common to the area, Estella and Manuel would hurry around as the structure flooded, hoisting food and beds onto cinder blocks to keep them from getting soaked. Sometimes, the wind would pick up and flip the flimsy roof inside out, ruining their possessions. With Habitat for Humanity’s help, Estella and her grandson now live further inland, in a new home. Today, in her kitchen in Puerto Cortes, Estella dances and sings songs from her youth. And she is not afraid of the storms anymore.
In a study of 200 cities globally, 90% were found to be unaffordable to live in, and by 2025, 1.8 billion people are expected to be affected by the global housing shortage.
Let’s change that. Let’s build.
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