“I felt a sense of achievement, working with other volunteers,” said Glenna, a student who has repeatedly volunteered with her schoolmates to help the elderly declutter and clean their home in Singapore. A member of the Habitat for Humanity campus chapter based in Hwa Chong Institution, she is among 5,000 supporters of the 2024 Habitat for Humanity Young Leaders Build in eight countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We at Habitat for Humanity know that young leaders lend a unique energy to our mission to build a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Since we started hosting the Habitat Young Leaders Build campaign in 2012, young people have contributed their creativity and energy to helping families in need build homes. We are excited to see more of them advocate for policies to expand access to adequate housing and innovate solutions for sustainable development. We are proud to amplify the outputs of youth-led activities and projects and how young leaders havecreated tangible positive impact in the communities where they work,” said Jay Ancheta, Volunteer Programs Associate Director for Asia-Pacific, Habitat for Humanity International.
The Young Leaders Build campaign opened its 13th season in December during International Volunteer Day. Volunteers lent their hand in various ways: helping earthquake affected communities in Nepal and Japan remove rubble and build temporary housing, expanding their peers’ awareness about the link between housing and urbanchallenges in Korea, building new houses in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Cambodia, and cleaning houses of vulnerable residents in Singapore and Hong Kong, among others. The campaign also highlights winning solutions toimprove housing conditions from young leaders in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Nepal.
“The courage I’ve found to navigate the roads and earn a living for myself and my family stems from the security of having a home. My residence now stands as my pillar of strength,” said Pramila, a Habitat Nepal homeowner. “Having a stable home has left a profound and positive impact on our lives, bolstering our self-confidence.” Since moving into hernew home, she also volunteered for the HYLB campaign and became a champion of housing in her community.
Campaign volunteers worked alongside families in vulnerable situations, Habitat staff and community members to build, repair and paint houses and declutter and clean houses. They removed rubble, prepare temporary housing and build furniture for people affected by disaster. They also joined awareness-raising activities through social media anda walkathon. By the end of the campaign, the volunteers have served 1,720 families and raised more than US$93,000in support for the cause of housing.
About Habitat for Humanity Young Leaders Build
Habitat for Humanity Young Leaders Build brings the youth together from across the Asia-Pacific region to support people and families in need ofdecent housing. By volunteering, fundraising, raising awareness or adding their voices in support of affordable housing, every young person canhelp families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. The movement encourages youths to take the lead and motivate their peers to build homes and communities, on a Habitat build site and/or online through their social networks.
About Habitat for Humanity
Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity found its earliest inspirations as a grassroots movement on an interracial community farm in U.S.A. Since its founding in 1976, the housing organization has grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in more than 70 countries. In the Asia-Pacific region since 1983, Habitat for Humanity has supported millions of people to build or improve a place they can call home. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. To learn more, donate or volunteer, visit habitat.org/asiapacific.
For further information, please contact:
Ms. Angeli Alba-Pascual
AAlba@habitat.org
+63 920 956 3376
Ms. Rona Azucena
RAzucena@habitat.org
+63 916 545 8310
Photos are available in this folder. Captions and photographer credits are provided in the folder