Carters Lead Fight Against Substandard Housing in Mekong

Friday, Jun. 26, 2009 Posted: 11:51:50AM HKT

In this photo provided by Habitat for Humanity, former President Jimmy Carter, center, and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, to his right, pose with team members at a Habitat for Humanity home, Friday, Nov. 2, 2007 in San Pedro, Calif. As part of the Jimmy Carter Work Project 2007, now in its 24th year, 100 houses will be built or rehabilitated in Los Angeles by the end of the year, to help low-income families realize the dream of home ownership. (Photo: AP/HFHI)

Former US President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn will be leading a project to build simple, decent and affordable housing in partnership with families in need in the Mekong region November this year.

In the 26th year of their involvement with Habitat for Humanity International taking part in weeklong blitz-building projects mainly in the U.S. but also in other countries worldwide including Canada, Mexico, South Africa, India, Korea and the Philippines, the Carters will be leading thousands of volunteers this time to the Mekong region.

The Mekong River, which flows more than 2,500 miles from the Tibetan highlands to the South China Sea, is home to some of the poorest people in Asia. Nearly one-third of the population – 80 million out of 250 million – live in poverty, many on less than a dollar per day, despite rapid economic growth in the last decade.

“The need for affordable housing is immense in the Mekong region,” said Jonathan Reckford, Chief Executive Officer of Habitat.

The Carters will build with an estimated 300 families in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and China’s Sichuan Province, according to the HFHI website.

They will also call attention to the area where many people live in deplorable poverty, the former president added. The JRCWP: Mekong Build 2009 will mark the beginning of a five-year Habitat initiative to work with 50,000 families in the five countries and assist them by engaging corporations, individuals and partners in the fight to end the blight of substandard housing.

HFHI has a strong and growing presence in all the Mekong countries, the ministry stated. “This project will provide a significant boost to those programmes to serve even more families in need of decent shelter,” said Richard Hathaway, Vice-President for Habitat’s Asia-Pacific region.

Research shows that more than 1.6 billion people in the world today live in substandard housing. One billion of those live in slums, with half of those living in slums in the Asia-Pacific region. Children living in poverty housing are ten times more likely to contract meningitis and respiratory problems.

The JRCWP this year will take place from November 16 to 20.

Nathanael Ng
Christian Post Reporter