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On the last day of the project, volunteers followed a procession of lions as they paraded through the streets, stopping to bless some of the new homes. Photo by Habitat for Humanity/Ezra Millstein.

By Kathryn Reid

Habitat for Humanity’s 2009 Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project in Vietnam closed on Friday, 20 November, with a rousing ovation for the homeowner families and  volunteers who completed construction that morning for 30 houses in Dong Xa village, Ke Sat town, Binh Giang district, Hai Duong Province; two homes had been completed earlier.

From Monday through Friday, more than 400 volunteers joined in the construction of homes with low-income farming and fishing families in need of decent shelters. The new houses will help those families to escape overcrowded conditions, to access education and enjoy a more healthful living environment. 

At the closing ceremony, Ken Bensen, president and CEO of the Habitat for Humanity State Support Organization in the U.S. state of Michigan, urged volunteers and sponsors of the houses to look beyond “the week of hard work and new cultural experiences” they had enjoyed and to make a commitment to the higher goal of  “changing the housing stock around the world” for the better.

Said homeowner Dao Van Dong, “Today I’m happy for my family and the other 32 families and for what this project has done for the whole community. I have a sincere wish for Habitat for Humanity Vietnam  to grow and grow to serve more families.”  

Since 2001, Habitat for Humanity Vietnam has served more than 5,500 families with housing microfinance, construction technical assistance and improvements in water and sanitation. 

During the annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project, the former U.S. president and his wife joined with international non-governmental organization Habitat for Humanity to construct housing with the poor and to advocate for adequate shelter - basis of human needs and development. The 2009 Carter Work Project resulted in new and renovated houses for 166 families in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao and China. The Carters visited the Hai Duong province build site on Wednesday, 18 November.   

At the end of a busy week of block laying, rendering, painting and installing roof panels and awnings, Friday morning found volunteers doing touch-up work, cleaning and putting away equipments and tools. Toward noon, the flurry of activity gave way to a quiet time of hospitality and sharing as each homeowner made tea in their new home and served it to the volunteers they had worked with all week.  

Seeing their houses completed was the culmination of a lifetime of dreams and months of work for families that had contributed labor to making the blocks that were laid for building their homes.

A tribute to the 32 new homeowners, more than 400 volunteers and 43 sponsors whose combined efforts resulted in 30 houses completed in one week and a renewed commitment that made the week a success.