Author: habitat

“Not many strangers are willing to give you 50 million Dong (around 2,143 USD) to support you with building a house without giving a single request to benefit them, especially in Vietnam’s rural areas,” shares Hai.

Hai, 38, and his little family with his wife Huong, 35, son Tien, 8, and daughter Duyen, 11 had been living in a shabby house with a bathroom shared with his parents. The house size was similar to his newly constructed one but it was stuffier as there are many unusable furniture and many people staying inside while the space was compressed.
“’Of course, the new house is more spacious because that’s our own house of 4 family members. It looks more solid and open space of bright colors,” shares Hai. Back to roughly a year ago, Hai and his family used to live in a 36-square-meter house covered by iron sheets. The old house is more like a temporary shelter than a house. The roof is made of tile and the walls were constructed out of iron sheets without sturdy bricks or a proper door. As a mason Hai felt upset that he could not improve his own home despite his skillful hands. That is why the joy amidst surprise of receiving new house bloomed when they were going to have a new house built by Australian volunteers. “Not many strangers are willing to give you 50 million Dong (around 2,143 USD) to support you with building a house, especially in Vietnam’s rural areas without giving a single request to benefit them,” says Hai. “The volunteers were very proactive, they worked enthusiastically to finish the house. If you have a chance to meet the team, please send my best regards to them”.

Living in a new place equipped with enough facilities, one bathroom inside the house and two spacious bedrooms, Hai could not expect anything more from the volunteers. However, from their side, they want to improve the facilities to make the house to be more flood-resistant. “Now we do not have to put much efforts for preparedness whenever disaster arrives, especially when the flood submerged our small humble town,” says Hai. Thanks to the floor built much higher than the ground, water level submerging into his house is lower than ever before. Hai recalls whenever the flood arose, most lands were soaked into the water and the track were earthed with dirty mud because the family were living in the hollowed area. Now they are no longer plagued by worries because of the flood flowing into their house. However, currently their livestock shed beside the house is still very muddy after the rain, which is a bit unpleasant. In overall, the family cherishes every happy moment staying together in the new house and has no decision of moving away. “Ever since the house was built, I have seen many frequent smiles from my parents. Before that, their faces had rarely showed a bright smile,” says Duyen.

Hai’s family

To resist the storm, Hai decided to build a small concrete attic even though it would cost him more. As a mason, he wants the best living quality for his family. By the time the interview took place, Huong had faced some financial loss of selling the livestock because Vietnam was in the midst of the African pig plague outbreak. Thus, their total monthly income is currently only 4 million Dong (171 USD). Sometimes when Hai and Huong  have extra work and come home late Duyen and Tien have to stay alone at home for a while but the children shared that they don’t feel as scared as before. “Whenever there are no adults at home, just lock the door and stay inside. Everything will be alright”, says Duyen.

Duyen and Tien standing in front of the house

At the moment, Hai still seeks community’s support on his children’s education and to weigh down his burdens whilst the family is still in the penury. However, they hope that everything is going to be better soon. “I am still trying my best to give what is best to my children even though sometimes there are tiring days of manual labor. I hope their future will be brighter through proper education,” says Hai. Hai is very proud of his daughter because her performance at school is very impressive. To improve her awareness about water-sanitation-hygiene practice, Duyen often attend the campaign at school and understand clearly about how to maintain hygienic practice on a daily basis. “I know how to distinct between dirty and clean water. I also know that whenever we get home or before eating, we should always wash our hands properly”, smiles Duyen. “I love to become a teacher in the future while my little brother wants to be a police officer”.

9 years ago, Alanna and her schoolmates had came and built a house together with Hoa’s family members in My Tho City, Tien Giang Province, Vietnam. 9 years later, she and her sister Megan were on the way back to the town in which she used to be so close with the family and the local neighborhood. 
Today was a day I had been dreaming about for nine long years because I got to go back to the house our Habitat for Humanity team helped build in My Tho, Tien Giang Province, Vietnam. Meg and I took a bus from HCMC with Habitat Vietnam’s staff, Hong, a communication officer, alongside the trip as translator. Since the government officials, other habitat staff and the homeowner couldn’t speak any English we were really glad to have her with us. I also was able to get a new Habitat for Humanity Vietnam T-shirt through Hong.
After a couple hours driving south we arrived at a government office in My Tho, where a coordinator who worked with part of the DSBNi team (District School Board of Niagara’s International) during my build trip met us, along with two government officials who escorted us to the home.

Photo in 2010.

We walked only a few minutes from the government building down an unfamiliar street.  Everything had developed so much in this area since I was here at last it was hard to recognize. I never would have found the home without them. The roads and walkways had been paved with cement where there use to be dirt and grass. Walking down the alleyway to the house, I saw where it use to be open with room to build had all been developed into more cement houses. When I finally saw the home I was overcome with emotion. Seeing the homeowner so happy in her home was incredible.

When we arrived she graciously put out chairs for us and told us to sit. She was so cute and looked so happy to see us, she is 68 years old now, with 3 sons and grandchildren who are around 20.
When my team finished working on her house nine years ago we presented her and her husband a photo we’d taken with her standing in front of the wall next to her house. She showed me she still had the faded photo in the gold frame and she pointed to me in the photo. In the new photo of her and I, the wall to the right is the same wall which the original picture was taken.
The homeowner told us that she use to sell lottery tickets but then had to stop when her husband got sick, so she could look after him. She also told us about her husband getting sick and that he had passed away three years ago. She asked if I was married and I said not yet, she was happy and said good don’t do it. She kept looking at Meg, and we soon realized why, as we were told she said Meg was pretty like a doll. She also told us to wear face masks to protect our skin from the sun here. I guess she was worried for our pale skin. She kept thanking me for coming back, and said to pass along the thank you to my other teammates and to my mom for letting me go!

Megan (on the left) and Alanna (on the right) joined with Hoa in the photo. 

I showed her all the pictures I had on my phone from my time there and she asked if I still had the same phone from 9 years ago, the others had to explain how phone photo storage works. I showed her pictures of the children who I spent my time with there but she said she didn’t recognize them. Until I asked the translator, Hong, to ask her a specific little girl named Ellen. She corrected Hong’s pronunciation of the girls name and said she moved far away about 3km. I didn’t see any kids running around the houses like when I was there, all of the empty space between the houses has been developed and apparently there is a lot of new people living in this area.


When I last saw the home the walls weren’t complete, the floor was dirt and it had a makeshift tin roof. Now with fully constructed walls decorated with family pictures and a tiled floor, it was almost hard to recognize. Flowers hung in her doorway to celebrate the mid-year. I recognized the window shutters as the ones they made me pretend to sand for a picture. They are now painted blue along with the door. Inside she had a large wooden TV cabinet that displayed pictures of her family and Buddha. Next to the cabinet was a shrine with a fish tank on top that was lit up and with overflowing large goldfish. A poster size picture of her and her late husband, who passed away three years ago, hung next to a photo of her smiling at the beach. The room had a red and gold color scheme with a hammock hanging in the corner. A small opening in the wall led to her bedroom in the back, where she had her older dog tied up and a bird cage.

Next to the house was the empty factory building that we used to eat in everyday for lunch, the large building looked the same from what I could tell peering in the doorway. Today we saw it being used as a candy making facility.
We thanked her for letting us visit and gave her some cookies and dried fruit as a thank you gift. We wished we could’ve stayed longer to visit with her. I spent as long as I could there looking around the other areas where I used to play with the little kids. Some buildings were the same but the mud and grass areas were missing.
Some photos taken during the build in 2010:

It has been nine years long since the day Alanna and her team were on a special excursion with community-contributing activities in My Tho City, Tien Giang District.
Up till now, profound changes have taken place in the area which used to be full of mud and sand on the earthy track leading to the house. Walking across the street and the spacious alley at present, we both had eyes wide open to see the town was so placid yet filled with semi-detached houses and cemented pathways.

“It’s so different when we were here 9 years ago. When our team arrived, there were just a few houses in the area. Now it’s filled with a whole populated community with wholesome atmosphere”, shares Alanna (26). On the trip back to Vietnam this time, she accompanied with her younger sister Megan (19) and determined to have three-day stay in My Tho province. Simultaneously, it is favorable for her to take the time visiting the house she and her colleagues contributed to constructing in 2010. According to Alanna, this return in 2019 was meant to be an opportunity to discover the ‘timeless charm’ of Vietnam in which she has never had time travelling during the build, and find the neighborhood and the house that welcomed her team.
The house is still situated on the same land without any expansion or certain changes in the structure. The only profound changes are the community and concrete facilities around the house. Their livelihood is better than it used to be as well. After all these years, Hoa (65) is now still residing in the 36m² room with her two sons and a ripping old age dog. She finds it comfortably satisfactory and has not intended to move out because the house has kept lots of good memories of her family, especially the time spending with her husband during his presence. Dzung, her husband, passed away in 2016 at the age of 70 due to gastritis and heavy stroke sequela. Since Dzung was sick, Hoa dropped her job as a lottery seller and often looked after him. When her husband was disabled due to the illness, she decided to stay at home, cooked and did household chores for her husband and sons. Now he is gone, but Hoa takes the responsibility to take care of traditional incense rituals and worship for her husband. She does not currently live alone. Her two sons are still staying with her while working to make ends meet. Meanwhile, she has her oldest son living far away from her hometown with her grandchildren. Loi (38) is a baker and Sinh (34) works in a fishery manufactory.

(From left to right) Megan, Hoa and Alanna share the moment. 

“Now our house is cleaner. A couple of years ago, our home is housed on the muddy grassland. It was super earthy and filthy”, says Hoa.
Alanna and Habitat Vietnam team arrived at the house in the middle of the afternoon after one and a half hour ride from Ho Chi Minh City. “Xin chao ba”, she saluted and gave Hoa a bow when encountered her in the house. In return, Hoa smiled amiably and joyously. We began the conversation with the greetings about her health and daily lives and later, go deeper about the family’s living conditions. Some jokes were inevitable because everyone was open to share their stories and common fun.
“Vietnam is my first destination I went with a team without my mom nor my family and somehow, it was the most memorable trip I have ever had in my life”, says Alanna. “Also, partly because I had some little Vietnamese companions accompanying during the build. They were in my team and we often played on the grassland”.

Alanna (left) played with the kids during the time she joined the build.

Thanks to this return, she could have had a chance to reunite with her old friends, the kids in town. Unfortunately, time flies and things change. Most of her friends have moved out. “I remember the girl named, Yen Linh”, Alanna described and showed the photograph to us. “We were very close. She used to play in the mud. The land was filled with dirt. I don’t know why we were so close and she often played with me on the grassland”.
Hoa showed her gratitude and exclamation to Alanna when had learnt about her full story to be back to Vietnam with helping hands 9 years ago. “Your mother could have cried a lot when she allowed you to travel away”, she thought. “She would have worried about your safety, but anyway, overseas expedition are worthy because you will learn a lot from it”.
We both lingered inside the house for a while and listened to Hoa describe the picture of the volunteers who joined the build in 2010 before the farewell with shared smiles and warms regards.
In 2010, Habitat for Humanity Vietnam organized a build trip for volunteers from District School Board of Niagara’s International in My Tho City, Tien Giang Province. The build date was from July 3^rd-10^th.

 

In Tien’s mind, she does not know how to pronounce Grant Thornton correctly; however, she is mindful of holding every good memory she had got with the volunteers from “Gờ-Tê” (*the way she pronounced GT in Vietnamese).

When first encountered the new house built by her own hands and the volunteers, she found a sheer bliss. The new house has heralded a new page of life with the likelihood of stability. “I work endlessly without thinking that we would have a nice house like this. The only thing I could think of is how to make ends meet for daily living,” shares Tien, 33. With the mason’s monthly income of around 3 million VND (127 USD), a house at that time was beyond her reach. Now her income rises up to 4,5 million VND (191 USD) per month.
In her memory, an owned house she has been living for years was dilapidated of improper roof and floor. The house covering around 20m² consisted of rotted materials while the floor was soiled. The substandard roof with holes allowed for raindrops to enter causing high humidity and a favorable environment for mosquitoes. Tien recounts that the highest peak of the rainy season could be daunting for finding any better places to sleep, especially when the flood submerged up to 1m tall. That is why hardly does Tien think those kind of difficulties happened a year earlier, before Grant Thornton team volunteered to build the new house with her family.

According to Tien, she is impressed by the proactive acts and fast-moving integration from the volunteers. Thanks to Habitat’s engagement, she could communicate with the team and become close to them even though their stay in the build did not last longer than 4 days. “I wandered around with them very frequently. I knew some construction techniques so I could work with them. We were a close-knit team,” says Tien. “When they began to depart, I also began to cry. Seeing them work harmoniously and willing to live under our living conditions makes me feel emotional”.
For her, it was the period worth reminiscing. And now, new settlement still awaits her. Thanks to the new house, she feels less worried a bit as it is a disaster-resilient house. This nicely-painted one is covered with concrete walls, new iron sheets roof sustained by steel-made frames. There also has a solid attic, which can protect the family from heavy storms and floods happening frequently as this is a disaster-prone area. “Owning a house like this means significantly to us. I am no longer scare of anything else because now my children Toan, 11, and Y, 3, can stay indoors and feel warm. I used to feel deplored seeing mother and kids being cold because of big wind and torrential rain,” tells Tien.

At the moment, they have not yet installed the learning corners for her children but roomy space comforts her a lot. Her mother Ngung, 65, can also have a relaxing place to rest and prevent from the chronic bronchitis resulted in the inclement weather and the previous living conditions. Tien is currently the only breadwinner of the family and thus, she is still coping with financial difficulties. However, having a sturdy house weighs down her burdens a lot. After a hard-working day, she can come back home and see her children smile happily in a spacious, clean house. Her family is all her life, she shares. Watching her children grow and playing with them is the only thing she has ever wanted to see on the daily basis no matter what a tiring and doomed day is.
“At the moment, we feel nothing completely satisfied but this beautiful house. We are still struggling with the unstable livelihood. We are using our own usable water and sanitation facility detached from the house, but we are planning to have the indoors bathroom in the future. The house is what we need but if with a bathroom, it would perfectly reflect a house I dreamt about,” she says.
Before we close the conversation with her, she wants to message endless thanks to the volunteers who visit Vietnam and build her wonderful house. She still keeps many souvenirs given by some members of the team and the group photo, framed and hanged nearby the stairs.
“I feel extremely thankful and grateful to have a cozy shelter like this. Thank you so much for such a wonderful dedication,” Tien smiles.