Photo: Women at the community center picking up new materials after their roofs were destroyed by Typhoon Ketsana.   By Elizabeth Lưu A popular saying in Vietnam—“Dan ong xay nha dan ba xay to am”—translates as, “Men make a house; women make a home.” Though this phrase might have been somewhat true in the past, times have changed. A large percentage of women in Habitat for Humanity Vietnam project areas are engaged in many—and often all—aspects of making a house and a home. Earlier this year, an external evaluation of a Habitat project in Tien Giang province found that 63 percent of women in the households we partnered with took part in physical building; 70 percent of women had a major role in deciding whether to repair or build their house; and 51 percent of the loans—approximately 1,100—were given to women. In this particular project, though only 51 percent of women are loan holders, at least 67 percent are responsible for making the loan payments, because it is common in Vietnamese culture for women to manage the finances of the household. In Tien Giang, several women also reported that after they partnered with Habitat, they began saving for the first time.  Due to the political structure in Vietnam, nongovernmental organizations must work through government partners to carry out projects in any location. In some of our project areas, our government partner is the Women’s Union, whose stated mandate is to “protect women’s legitimate rights and strive for gender equality.” In our Dong Nai project, 85 percent of the loans are held by women, while in Vinh Phuc and in our Kien Giang housing and water and sanitation improvement project, all of the loans are held by women. These high numbers are due to our partnership with the Women’s Union. In addition, these projects also report that the vast majority of those who manage the loans and attend financial and construction workshops are the women of the households.  Habitat for Humanity Vietnam aims to “promote gender equality and empower women”—Millennium Development Goal No. 3 (MDG 3)—by providing women with some of the tools needed to lift themselves out of poverty (e.g., training or education in financial literacy, low-cost construction techniques, safe water and sanitation practices and applying for their land use rights). Our work on MDG 3 is also a smart investment, as studies on microfinance have shown that women are better at managing their loans than men. HFH Vietnam’s project portfolios show high and timely repayment rates, reinforcing the research findings that women are good financial managers.(1),(2) Habitat’s provision of access to capital through microloans for full housing or repairs goes hand-in-hand with enabling women to increase their income, as approximately 3 million women use their homes for business(3) purposes in Vietnam. We have heard from several female home partners who have increased their income after partnering with us. For example, one home partner reported increased business in her living room café after Habitat helped her replace her dirt floor with a tile one. Before the repair, her floor would turn to mud during the rainy season. Another home partner who replaced her dirt floor said she was able to start a sewing business once she could keep the fabric clean on a tile floor. Despite these small steps toward progress, women in Vietnam, like women throughout the developed and developing world, are still constrained by traditional gender values. As wives and mothers, they are often solely responsible for both their small businesses and unpaid domestic work. And although Vietnamese women work more hours than men, they receive approximately 87 percent of men’s wages.(4) HFH Vietnam is proud of our strong record of working with women. We are eagerly looking for new ways to better serve the women in our projects by giving them a voice in forums and listening to their suggestions and feedback about our projects. Elizabeth Lưu is the planning, monitoring and evaluation manager at Habitat for Humanity Vietnam. She has worked with Habitat Vietnam for a year and half. Prior to joining Habitat, she worked with Doctors Without Borders and World Vision.   1)Women and Repayment in Microfinance” - http://www.microfinancegateway.org/gm/document-1.9.40253/Women%20and%20Repayment%20in%20Microfinance.pdf   2)Economist Article, Wominnovation” referring to International Centre for Research on Women study:http://www.economist.com/business-finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15656289   3)International Labour Organization 2007, Women's Entrepreneurship Development in Vietnam -http://www.oit.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_100456.pdf   4)Opening remarks at the media Q&A by the UN Resident Coordinator at the launch of regional Human Development Report on gender- http://www.undp.org.vn/detail/newsroom/news-details/?contentId=3366&languageId=1

Founded in the United States in 1976, Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing.  Habitat for Humanity has a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Habitat works with people of all backgrounds, ethnic groups and religions to build decent houses in partnership with families in need. Habitat for Humanity has built, renovated and repaired nearly 300,000 homes around the world, providing more than one-and-a-half million people in thousands of communities in countries and territories across six continents with safe, decent, affordable shelter.   Habitat for Humanity Vietnam Habitat’s work in Vietnam is undertaken through a branch office of Habitat for Humanity International that was established in October 2001.   Habitat Vietnam specializes in the implementation of sustainable community-based shelter, water and sanitation. The organization is committed to integrated community building solutions in Vietnam. It aims to improve living conditions and reduce poverty through partnerships with local organizations that address sustainable livelihoods, education, environmental issues, and in some cases legal issues, to ensure all causes and effects of poverty are addressed.   To meet pressing housing and development needs in Vietnam, Habitat developed a five-year strategic plan to serve 18,000 families by 2011. This will be done through core business models of housing microfinance, vocational and technical training, technical support in shelter, water and sanitation and transformational community development.   Habitat for Humanity Vietnam operates programs in Hai Duong, Vinh Phuc, Kien Giang, Tien Giang, Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City, with more locations to come. More than 4,000 low-income Vietnamese families have partnered with Habitat for Humanity Vietnam to improve their housing and living conditions.   Our goals: Habitat for Humanity Vietnam helps people in need by building and renovating houses to achieve the overall vision of "A World where Everyone has a Decent Place to Live" Our strategic plan for 2006 – 2011 is: -       To exponentially increase the number of families served -       To help lead the transformation of systems that impact affordable housing -       To mobilize new capital to the global affordable housing market -       Habitat Vietnam and its covenant partners will be diverse, motivated and high performing.

Lafarge Communications Manager Tran Thu (left) and Habitat Vietnam Volunteer Programs Manager Ho Mai Anh peel off the sticker for the new address.     On July 26 two houses built by Lafarge, a construction materials company, were completed and handed over to the homeowners.  After one month of construction, the two households finally have a decent place to live. These low-income households used to shelter in inadequate housing: thatch roof and walls with wooden pillars, dirt floors and no foundation. Volunteers from Lafarge and the homeowners built two new houses with a concrete foundation, brick walls and cement floor. The homes were also plastered and painted light blue with a cheerful bright blue trim.   Also on hand to witness the happy house handover to the families were the  partnership representatives, including Lafarge staff, the Fatherland Front and Women’s Union of Nhon Trach district (Dong Nai province) and Habitat for Humanity Vietnam staff.

Phan Van Hai is among the five families in Hiep Duc district, Quang Nam province to build new homes in June during Habitat Vietnam’s Typhoon Ketsana Recovery Project. In Central Vietnam, on one of the hottest days so far this year, when many of the crops in Quang Nam province are suffering from drought, as most of the wells in Hiep Duc district have already dried up and the humidity reached maximum, Phan Van Hai and his fellow villagers started digging a new well to collect water. They made a wooden lifting block and while one was hand-digging the soil, the other two lifted it up, pot by pot. They worked under the direct sun for three straight days but there was still no sign of water. Hai did not say much about the rough patches of his family, but his life story is written in the constant worry in his eyes. Hai’s wife, Huong, has been confined to bed for six years suffering from bone osteoporosis. It’s been difficult for him to see the pain she endures and how her body is becoming smaller and smaller each year.   Hai owned a 2500m sq rice field and shared five hectares of acacia forest with two friends; in addition to that, he worked as a seasonal construction labor away from home. However, being the sole breadwinner for a family of five, Hai could never afford a decent place to live. The thatched bamboo house they had been sheltering in for ten years was without a door or windows. Instead, there were hundreds of holes created by gaps between the thatches. Every year Hai had to “rebuild” the house after the disaster season: making new thatches and patching them together, knowing that they would only last for one cycle of weather. Day four, there is still no sign of water. With almost no rain since the beginning of the year, Hai’s and four other families might be in a serious lack of water for the coming three months. During the dry season, sunlight directly went across the thatch and heated up his house to the outside temperature. Rainy season posed an even worse scenario with heavy rain and wind. The house’s location on a high hill made the situation even less bearable for the family members. In 2009 when Typhoon Ketsana came, along with half of the roof, the entire house’s thatches were completely torn off in a few minutes. In early 2010, Hai and his family were introduced to Habitat for Humanity Vietnam’s Ketsana recovery project in Hiep Duc district, Quang Nam. He became one of five homeowners working with Habitat Vietnam to construct his house in May and June. Hai decided to relocate the family to live near his mother’s place, which was situated lower down the hill and therefore, they would be less prone to typhoons and other calamities. With Habitat’s technical assistance, his newly-built house was designed to resist against natural catastrophes in the future. For example, a brick roof was selected over a steel roof to withstand storm winds.  Le Van Doan, Habitat Vietnam Construction Engineer, said: “The brick arrangement protects itself from flying off during strong wind. The roof is also more flexible to cope with wind direction.” Hai believes that with this disaster-proof house, all he needed to concentrate on now was working hard for his family. “I need not worry about the wind, the rain or anything else anymore,” he says. Hai and his neighbors also found hope at the end of the fifth day – signs of water finally arrived at the bottom of the well, along with other indications of a better chance in life.