In spring 2017, a co-worker of mine was looking for people to join his team to go build a house with Habitat For Humanity in El Salvador. After the trip, I knew I was hooked and that this wouldn’t be the last time I took a trip with Habitat.
For 2018, I signed up to go to Vietnam. I was part of a Big Build, which involved more than 200 volunteers on more than 20 teams from over 5 countries working in Dong Thap, Vietnam, to help build more than 20 houses for deserving families. My team worked closely with our homeowner, Ngot, and his wife and two sons. We learned that this farming family spent more than half their annual income on school fees in order to send their children to school, leaving very little to repair or rebuild their shack made of corrugated iron sheets. Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village program has allowed me the chance to travel and experience new cultures in a way that no commercial tour can. I have been able to interact with families from rural areas that normally don’t see tourist activity, and I strongly appreciate that Habitat works with the families to provide them a hand up, not a handout. I’m looking forward to my next Habitat For Humanity trip to Kenya in April 2019!
-Kate McIver
https://habitatglobalvillage.ca/
See photos of Kate's trip below, A photo of homeowner ngot in the grey T-shirt, and read their family's story.