Habitat Youth BUILD 2014

To build on the first-time success of last year’s event that drew six hundred youth volunteers to       Smile Village, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia spent many months planning for Habitat Youth       Build 2014.  In the early morning hours of May 3, as the long crowds of youth began streaming           down the road toward Smile Village, it was clear that all of the campus presentations, meetings with student group leaders, fundraising, logistical planning and creating an on-line presence, had paid off in a big way.

One of our goals this year was to double the number of volunteers from 2013, and we are proud to say that here in Cambodia, Habitat Youth Build 2014 drew twelve hundred young people from area student groups, schools, colleges, universities and Buddhist pagodas to spend a day building and planting outside of Phnom Penh.  In addition, eight thousand students also took part in mass activation events around the country to raise awareness on the issue of sub-standard housing.

The event kicked off with opening speeches and review of safety rules, then teams broke out into their respective areas to begin their tasks.  The Smile Village project site soon became a hive of activity; there were groups preparing turf and a drainage system for a large community green space, long brigades moving stacks of concrete block, building foundations getting filled and organic gardens planted.  Our Construction supervisors worked with a team to begin building wall sections from recycled materials for later use, and one of our project partners, Solutions To End Poverty brought in their landscaping experts to train team leaders on the technique of installing bamboo roof gardens and tree planting.

One of the many special parts of the day was having Cambodian recording artist Pou Khlaing work along side the volunteers and provide a highlight to the great  lineup of entertainment during lunch.

In a larger context, the Habitat Youth Build campaign across Southeast Asia was also a tremendous success, with a record-breaking 800,000 youth in ten countries participating, which exceeded the 500,000 that had been anticipated,and far surpassed last year’s involvement of more than 100,000 volunteers in seven countries.  As Rick Hathaway, HFH Asia-Pacific vice president said, “Youth across Asia see poverty housing all around them and want to address the obvious growing inequality. By using their social networks to raise awareness and funds, or by physically building homes, young people are taking action to make a difference to the lives of low-income families in the region. Each year Habitat Youth BUILD gathers increasing momentum.”

At the end of the day, our volunteer crews were hot, sweaty and tired, but still smiling.  HFH Cambodia Country Director Don Boring was heard to say, “Now I know how the pyramids were build – so many hands doing so many tasks results in a tremendous amount of work being accomplished.”   More than sixty mango, guava and cashew trees were planted, an innovative “green” roof was installed that will keep a home naturally cooler, literally tons of building material were moved and a great deal of progress was completed on foundations for the next cluster of homes.

Although there was rain in the forecast for the afternoon, the skies stayed sunny and our volunteers worked until there was just enough daylight left to gather for a group picture of all twelve hundred volunteers, with Smile Village, continuing to grow greener and brighter in the background.