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THE JIMMY & ROSALYNN CARTER WORK PROJECT: THE MEKONG BUILD 2009
November 15-20, 2009
Three hundred families living in five Southeast Asian countries will
benefit directly arid have new homes after the week-long event. The
2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project will also begin a five-year
Habitat for Humanity initiative to assist tens of thousands of families
across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and south-western China by
engaging corporations, individuals and partners in the fight to end the
blight of substandard housing.
In the special November 2009 event, at least 82 homes will be
built in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, while others will go up at
sites elsewhere in the country. The ground-breaking ceremony was held
on 18 February 2009 at the Chiang Mai site in order to start preparing
the land and foundations for an intensive five-day housing construction
activity in November this year when former US President and Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, will join the
Chiang Mai local community, international celebrities and approximately
a total of 3,000 volunteers from Thailand and around the world to build
82 homes to commemorate His Majesty the King is 82nd birthday, which
will fall on December 5th. The houses will serve as decent homes for 82
low-income families in the North of Thailand.
"Thailand is National Housing Authority estimates that about
300,000 families or nearly 8.2 million people live in sub-standard
housing. This means their homes are made of flimsy materials, they lack
adequate shelter from the rain and sun, they have no proper water and
sanitation facilities and they cannot protect themselves from
intruders. This affects their health, their children is education and
their abilities to earn a living and improve their quality of life",
revealed Dr. Chainarong Monthienvichienchai, Chairman of Habitat for
Humanity Thailand.
As with every other Carter Work Project, the event during November
15-20, 2009 is expected to bring more attention to the problem of
poverty housing in not only Thailand, but also in the region with the
hope that it will serve as a catalyst in influencing more individuals
and donors to want to take action in building more homes for the less
fortunate.
The registration fee to participate as a building volunteer during
the event is US$1,700 for international volunteers and US$1,000 for
Thai citizens. This includes accommodation, transportation within
Chiang Mai and all meals during the five-day building event. It also
includes a donation to the local programme to continue to build more
houses in partnership with families in need. The fee for Thai citizens
living in Chiang Mai and not requiring accommodation will be less.
Apart from becoming a build volunteer, anyone can participate in this
effort by any amount of donation in cash or kind. And volunteers to
assist with logistics and translation to welcome and support the
international volunteers are warmly welcomed.
At the same time, work will take place on homes in northern
Vietnam; around Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia; in the capital of
Laos, Vientiane; and in China’s Yunnan province.
The Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project
A former US president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jimmy Carter and
his wife Rosalynn have donated one week of their time — and their
building skills — to help Habitat for Humanity shine the spotlight on
the need for affordable housing since 1984. That year, the Carters led
a small team of Habitat volunteers to New York City to help renovate a
small apartment building with 19 families in need of decent, affordable
shelter. More than a quarter of a century later, that modest effort has
grown into an internationally recognized annual event that has taken
place in communities around the world, the 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn
Carter Work Project will mark the fourth time the former US president
and his wife have built with Habitat for Humanity in Asia. Previous
Carter Work Projects were held in India in 2006, in South Korea in 2001
and in The Philippines in 1999. In May 2008, the Carters led volunteers
building in the US Gulf Coast rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.
Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization, which aims to
build homes in partnership with families in need and raise local and
global awareness of the issue of poverty housing, working with
individual and corporate donors who share the same vision. To date,
Habitat has built and rehabilitated more than 300,000 homes. More than
one-and-a-half million people live in Habitat homes they helped build
and are buying through no-profit mortgages.
Habitat for Humanity Across The Mekong Region
Habitat for Humanity Thailand operates in 19 provinces and has built
rehabilitated and repaired more than, 3323 houses m well as assisting
hundreds of families affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami
(www.habitatthailand.org).
Habitat’s presence in the rest of the region is relatively young.
But in just a few years, hundreds of families in Cambodia have been
helped in and around Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang
(www.hfhic.org).
In Vietnam, rehabilitation, repair, and water and sanitation
projects have improved the lives of thousands in the south of the
country, and the programme is now expanding to the north
(wwv.habitatvietnam.org).
In China, Habitat works with partners and local governments to
build and repair hundreds of homes for disabled and poor families in
Yunnan, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces. It is now initiating
reconstruction programme in Sichuan province following the devastating
2008 earthquake (www.habitatchina.org).
In southern Laos, Habitat is working with partner World Concern in
pilot projects involving microfinance and home improvements.
About The Mekong Region
The Mekong, the world is 12th longest river, runs for 4,330 km, (about
2,703 miles). From the Tibetan Plateau, it runs through China’s Yunnan
province, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The
region has seen significant economic growth in the past 20 years. Yet
it is still home to some of the poorest families in Asia. Nearly
one-third of the population — 80 million out of 250 million - lives in
poverty, many living on less than the equivalent of one US dollar a day.
BE PART OF THE CURRENT OF CHANGE
You can make a difference. Join the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project: The Mekong Build 2009.
For more information, contact: ap_info@habitat.org
Contact information:
Habitat for Humanity International, Asia-Pacific Office
Q. House, 8th Floor, 38 Convent Road, Silom, Bangrak,
Bangkok 10500, Thailand
Tel: +66-(0)2-632-0415
Fax: +66-(0)2-632-0445
E-mail: ap_info@habitat.org
Web site: http://www.habitat.org | 
