Habitat for Humanity ChinaChina -- Habitat for Humanity Int'l 1
While rapid economic growth has greatly reduced abject poverty, the World Bank estimates that about 150 million people, or 11 per cent of China’s population, still live on less than US$1 a day, many in rural areas.
Many of the chronically poor lack access to affordable housing, shut out by soaring land and house prices, and insufficient supply of low-cost accommodation.
Habitat for Humanity China was established in 2000. It began operations in 2002 in Kunming, capital of Yunnan, one of China’s poorest provinces.
In 2004, offices were opened in neighboring Guangxi and Guangdong provinces. The Guangxi office, based in the provincial capital Nanning, is the result of a strategic partnership with the Guangxi Poverty Alleviation Development Office and the Guangxi Disabled Persons’ Federation; the Guangdong office, based in the provincial capital Guangzhou, was set up as a result of a partnership with the Guangzhou Disabled Persons’ Federation.
In January 2006, Habitat merged its operations in Hong Kong and China into a single entity. The move aimed to leverage on the resources and business acumen of Asia’s premier international city to promote Habitat’s mission of providing decent housing for those in need in the world’s largest developing economy.
Hong Kong concentrates on fundraising and recruiting teams of volunteers.
Habitat is using Chengdu to bases its response to the devastating May 2008 earthquake that hit Sichuan and other provinces.
The pilot post-disaster reconstruction program involves working closely with the authorities at various levels in three communities in Pengzhou, some 36 km. northwest of Chengdu. In 2009, the plan is to build about 800 homes, three sets of nursery schools, health clinics, and activity centers/libraries and outdoor exercise areas.
Habitat currently works in rural areas in China where homes are often made of unsafe structures. Electricity is common, but water comes from communal wells and sanitation facilities are not widely available. A typical Habitat home measures about 70 sq. m. in size, and is constructed with red bricks, stone, compressed earth blocks or wood supplemented with a tiled roof. A flat roof design is preferred as homepartners can use the space both for drying grain and for collecting rainwater.
Under the Save & Build housing microfinance model, Habitat’s homepartners save as a group towards the cost of one house and when that amount is reached, Habitat and its partner organizations contribute the costs of another two houses and construction on the three units begins. Construction takes place over about seven weeks and the average loan repayment period is five years.
China is becoming an increasingly popular destination for locally-based and overseas Habitat volunteer build teams. It has hosted volunteer teams from the American International School of Guangzhou, International School of Beijing and Shanghai American School as well as teams from New Zealand and the U.S. in Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces.
Under Habitat’s Adopt-A-Community program, several multinational companies sponsor a certain number of houses and send volunteer groups to contribute labor in the construction of the houses.
HABITAT HIGHLIGHTS
• Hong Kong movie star-singer Karen Mok and actor-director Daniel Wu were high profile volunteers in February 2009 at Taizi village, where the first of 253 planned homes were being built after the Sichuan earthquake. They were joined by a team of South Korean student volunteers sponsored by Korea’s POSCO steel group.
• The Singapore Red Cross, Singapore-headquartered electronics maker Flextronics, Hong Kong Christian Council are among those funding HFH China’s pilot post-earthquake rebuilding initiative in three communities in Xiaoyudong and Cifeng townships, Pengzhou, Sichuan.
• The third fund raising benefit gala in Hong Kong raised HK$5.3 million (US$683,420) in September 2008.
• HFH China assisted 50 families affected by the June 2007 earthquake in Pu’er city, Yunnan province. Through partnerships with the local government, women’s federation and rural credit cooperative, Habitat provided cash donations and micro loans to help families rebuild their houses.
• Habitat helped 20 families in Chushui county, Yunnan province, to reconstruct their houses after a snow storm in early 2008.
• In Guangdong province, southern China, HFH China has completed rebuilding the homes of 67 flood-affected families. Habitat’s partners are the local government, Meizhou Charity Federation and local Rural Credit Cooperative.
• Habitat continues helping leprosy-affected people in the southern Guangxi province to improve their homes in the third year of its partnership with The Leprosy Mission International.
COUNTRY FACTS
Population: 1.3 billion (est. July 2008)
Capital: Beijing
Area: 9,596,960 sq. km.
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
Languages: Standard Chinese (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages
Religions: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian 3%-4%, Muslim 1%-2%
Updated April 2009
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