HFHI board chair visits tsunami-affected community

Ron Terwilliger, chairman of the Habitat for Humanity International board of directors, started 30 families in southern Thailand on the road to a new life when he presented each with a special Habitat savings box to start saving for their new homes.

Saving just 30 baht -- less than $1 -- a day will give each family a down payment for a new Habitat home in less than a year.

“It’s terrific to see Habitat in action even here in the south of Thailand, helping people to have a chance to have a decent home,” said Terwilliger.

The families are the latest group in southern Thailand to benefit from a partnership between Habitat for Humanity Thailand and World Concern to help those affected by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Terwilliger was visiting Koh Khlang, a Muslim community on Khlong Prasong island, between the resort island of Phuket and Krabi on the Thai mainland. Waters as high as one meter swamped the island following the tsunami.

Thailand is the first stop on a nine-day tour for Terwilliger that will include visits to Habitat projects in Indonesia and Vietnam.

The presentation of the savings boxes came at the end of a special ceremony in the community hall at the local school.

As part of the event, Terwilliger, HFHI area vice president Rick Hathaway, and HFH Thailand chief executive Panida Panyangarm were among those who presented dedication plaques to a dozen home partners who had recently completed new houses.

Village boys danced for the assembled crowded. Terwilliger and the local imam said prayers for the occasion.

Terwilliger reflected on the importance of working with Muslim communities. “I love seeing Habitat serve people of the Muslim faith. It shows that Christians are working with and helping all peoples,” he said.

Later, Terwilliger, Hathaway and Ana Marie Clamor, project director for World Concern, each cut celebration ribbons on three of the new houses.

At the house of fisherman Sommit Sitimoon, 31, and his 31-year-old wife Ba Lai Wan Chewaygahn, their nine-year-old daughter Chanada, said: “I am excited to see these foreigners have come so far to see our new home.”

Their concrete-brick house covers 118 square feet, at a cost of about 140,000 baht ($4,445). The family had already saved a 30,000-baht down payment, making the repayments for their seven-year mortgage about 850 baht ($27) per month.

In nearby Phuket, Rayong and PangaNga, the partnership has helped some 500 families affected by the tsunami.

Back in Bangkok, Terwilliger attended a donor event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the formation of HFH Thailand. Earlier in the day, he addressed a lunchtime meeting of members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand where he spoke about the state of property markets and the work of Habitat for Humanity.

HFH Thailand has grown rapidly in recent years. By December 2007, some 2,425 homes had been built and repaired all over the country, including about 800 in southern provinces affected by the tsunami. By June 2010, the total should have grown to more than 7,400.