‘Lack of access to decent shelter is resulting in unhealthy living conditions’

Habitat for Humanity, has worked for empowering women in India for three decades. As a member of the NGO, Rajan Samuels, MD, Habitat for Humanity, speaks about their endeavours and how they have collaborated with the government to improve better housing and sanitation for women in India, in an interview with Raelene Kambli

Tell us about your project/ initiative? How has it evolved over time?

Habitat for Humanity India began operations in 1983 in Khammam in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is among Habitat International’s largest country programme in the Asia-Pacific region, having assisted more than 275000 people since its inception. For more than three decades, HFH India has helped families rebuild and recover from disasters.

Habitat works with communities to provide low-cost housing on micro-financing models and self- help groups which gives financial support to people who are in dire need of proper housing and sanitation.

Over a period of time, Habitat India’s focus has included empowering women by providing proper sanitation means and ownership of homes resulting in improved health conditions. With more exposure to the living conditions of women and children, Habitat India has continued to include new interventions such as smokeless chulas, green housing, improved technology and affordable housing to cater to all the lower sections of the society.

What are your focus areas?

• Shelter related assistance: This includes construction of new homes, repairs and renovation of existing inadequate structures, protecting families from diseases, animal attacks and harsh weather conditions.
• Water, sanitation and hygiene, including behaviour change communication (BCC): Behaviour change communication focusses on breaking age old habits such as defecating in the open and habits that have been passed on from generations to generations. Behaviour change communication works to promote handwashing, sanitation and safe food handling. This is crucial for maintaining the health of the family
• Disaster response and risk mitigation: We help disaster stricken families to rebuild their lives through provision of emergency shelter kits (ESKs) in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and in the longer run help in rebuilding of homes. A critical component of the ESKs is hygiene kits which include sanitary napkins, soaps, chlorine tablets to purify water and other hygiene items. This is aimed towards preventing epidemic and endemic diseases which occur as a repercussion of the disasters.

How does your group evaluate the needs of your surrounding community and measure the progress of your initiatives?

• Habitat India, with the help of local community-based organisations (CBOs) and small local NGOs, identifies beneficiary families and gathers socio-economic data of the communities.
• These CBOs and local NGOs facilitate the initial surveys and feasibility studies conducted before beginning a project.
• These surveys and studies form the basis of assessing the needs of the local community and in deciding the nature and level of intervention necessary.
• The effectiveness of our interventions are measured through interviews with the beneficiary family before and
  after the intervention.
• Partnering with local CBOs and smaller localised NGOs has helped Habitat to increase our level of outreach through direct interventions.

Have you tied-up with the Government of India?

Yes, we have leveraged on the aid that the government provides low income groups through its various schemes. This results in lesser gap funding needed to complete projects. However, direct partnership with the government whether central or state level has hitherto been limited. However, one of Habitat India’s major thrust areas for the period 2014-2018 is to establish develop partnerships with the government at local, state and central level.

Tell us about your learnings so far?

One of the biggest lessons learnt by Habitat for Humanity is that housing is one of the biggest catalysts to breaking the poverty cycle leading to improvement in all facets of the beneficiary family’s lives with the impact on women and children being the largest. This includes safety, security, health, providing the right ambience for children education and livelihood. We have also experienced that giving out grant-based homes to the beneficiary is not as accepted as a home built by contributions from the home owners. Home owners have more acceptance and ownership towards homes built with their resources. It gives them a sense of dignity and pride amongst their peer groups and builds their self-confidence.

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