Author: habitat

• LE Electronics donated $60,000 in aid to Habitat for Humanity Vietnam through Habitat for Humanity Korea to continue the project “Life’s Good: Hope Villages”.
• Nearly 22,000 community members in Hoa Binh province, Vietnam, will be served over a 10-month project. 

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – December 17, 2021 – The “Hope Villages” funded by LG Electronics (LG) through Habitat Korea is back the second year to continue improving the living conditions of the Muong-ethnic community in Lac Son district, Hoa Binh province. Last year, the “Hope Villages” served over 11,000 individuals through housing, water and sanitation improvement, and capacity building on gender equality and finance management.

Muong ethnic community is among the poorest community in the country, experiencing a radical gap in development. Equality in homeownership is a powerful tool for building wealth for vulnerable Muong families and setting up future generations for success. With deep understanding, relevance, and respect of the Muong community’s local cultures and living settings, “Life’s Good: Hope Villages” seeks to empower ethnic families with the means they need to build a better future.

The project this year aims to support 22 ethnic minority families to enhance their quality of life and health condition through housing improvement. A communal house will also be renovated to benefit the whole community of Quyet Thang commune with nearly 16,500 people. The improved communal house will serve multiple purposes such as community events, development training, and emergency shelter for evacuation when disasters occur, with appropriated sanitation facilities and 2,500 school children and teachers through school libraries and awareness-raising events.

“We are grateful for LG Electronics’ continued commitment and support to Habitat Vietnam to ensure no one is left behind,” said Bells Regino-Borja, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Vietnam. “By integrating gender equality and climate change mitigation in the project, we empower the vulnerable people, especially ethnic minority women, to take the lead in building stability and development for themselves, their families and the community. Better educational resources through two smart libraries in the commune also encourage ethnic minority children to enjoy learning more.”

“As a global company that operates in more than 100 countries worldwide, LG is committed to promoting mutual growth with local communities. In Vietnam, LG has been devoted to social contribution activities that create sustainable development for the past 25 years, and Hope Village serves as an excellent example,” said Sung Woo Nam, Managing Director of LG Electronics Vietnam. “Through our advanced products and technology, LG’s key mission is bringing more value to our customers, and at the same time, continue joining forces with Habitat for Humanity to support initiatives aiming at creating the values needed by the society. Because we believe ‘Life’s Good’ and that everyone deserves to enjoy a good life.”

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About Habitat for Humanity Vietnam

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort and has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in more than 70 countries. Operating as a branch of Habitat for Humanity in Vietnam for 20 years, we have worked with over 61,000 families to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat Vietnam has been delivering a holistic approach to housing by supporting and empowering communities to take ownership in improving their living conditions and enabling them to build strength, stability, and self-reliance. To learn more please visit  https://habitatvietnam.org  or follow https://www.facebook.com/HFHVietnam/.

About LG Electronics 

LG Electronics is a global innovator in technology and consumer electronics with a presence in almost every country and an international workforce of more than 75,000. LG’s four companies – Home Appliance & Air Solution, Home Entertainment, Vehicle component Solutions and Business Solutions – combined for global sales of over USD 56 billion in 2020. LG is a leading manufacturer of consumer and commercial products ranging from TVs, home appliances, air solutions, monitors, service robots, automotive components and its premium LG SIGNATURE and intelligent LG ThinQ brands are familiar names worldwide. To learn more, please visit https://www.lg.com/.

Located in the lowland of Quang Nam province, Tam Dan commune is visited by typhoons and floods four to eight times annually. This community house (Nhà văn hóa thôn) is the safest place in the area for people to evacuate. There are up to 100 people that call this community house their temporary home during typhoon seasons every year. Most of them are older people and children. “Our existing latrine in the community house does not have enough capacity for all evacuees,” says Ho Van Tri, the Tam Dan commune People’s Committee chairman.
During the two-year project, funded by DFAT through Habitat for Humanity Australia, the Tam Dan commune gained stronger and increased knowledge on disaster and climate change mitigation. Through PASSA group facilitation, the community decided to build a new adequate latrine in the community house as part of their defined plan and priorities for disaster preparedness. This plan received the attention of the local authority and, together with Habitat Vietnam, the PASSA groups and the community, successfully mobilized funding contribution from the government. The newly built latrine ensures people’s hygiene and sanitation conditions that will temporarily stay here during disasters. The latrine is designed to be accessible for everyone, including persons with disabilities, children, the elderly and those who are sick. “This October, 37 people stayed in this community house due to high flooding in the commune. The people who evacuated felt safe and happy seeing this new latrine. I observed that the older people could manage to go to the toilet by themselves without help from others,” Tri shared.

Habitat for Humanity Vietnam completed a four-month project to recover and improve education facilities in Quang Ngai province post-disaster. Nearly 900 school children and teachers are served with funding support from GE Foundation. Being a coastal province in central Vietnam, Quang Ngai is vulnerable to natural disasters, with hundreds of unroofed schools and houses during the 2020 typhoon season.

In collaboration with Binh Son Department of Education and Training and school management boards, Habitat Vietnam renovated 10 classrooms with new typhoon-resilient roofs and electricity system establishment, provision of fans and lights in Binh Nguyen primary and Binh Thanh 2 primary schools. A new latrine is also built-in Binh Thanh 2 primary school with disability-accessible features and a hand-washing facility. With this support, students and teachers of two primary schools will have access to a better learning facility and improve their hygiene and sanitation practices.

The principal of Binh Thanh 2 primary school, To Van Duan, shared, “We are very thankful for the project’s support. With the new facilities, we feel more confident and safer during typhoon season, and school children’s academic performance is no longer disrupted. The new latrine also creates a more hygienic and sanitation environment for children’s education; especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers can educate students on proper hygiene practices with the handwashing facility. ”

Deputy Head of Binh Son Department of Education and Training, Tran Thi Phuong Linh, said, “I am pleased that Habitat Vietnam and GE Foundation cooperated with local authorities in the recovery effort after typhoons to help students and teachers soon stabilize their learning environment. The school becomes not only a safe shelter for students but also an evacuation site for the community in disasters. This support not only helps students and teachers have a comfortable environment for their study but also increases the capacity of public facilities to receive more evacuees, thus enhancing the disaster preparedness of the community.”

“Having this support in place is a great step forward in strengthening community disaster preparedness capacity,” said Bells Regino-Borja, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Vietnam. “I am grateful that Habitat Vietnam has been able to partner with GE Foundation, the local authorities, and schools in ensuring the best education environment for children and build community resilience to disasters.”

Joyful Nhao, wife Tinh and son Nhi at the completion of their new house (July 2021). 

With an unstable monthly income of about US$43 from Nhao’s ‘day laborer’ work, their family can only pay for basic needs. Nhao’s wife, Tinh, is suffering from mental illness, and despite her condition, she has not received an illness certificate (Giấy xác nhận khuyết tật), that shows her need for specific social support from the government.  For years, Tinh could not access any social support. Nhao thought that a stable home will help his wife cope with her illness better. His family lived in a run-down house made of decayed bamboo beams and covered by nylon sheets. “We have been poor my whole life. I am getting old now and I don’t know how much time I have left. I feel bad seeing my son grow up in this situation.”

The new home of Nhao and Tinh was funded by LG Electronics through Habitat Korea under a project called “Healthy Homes and Healthy Communities: Improved living conditions and settlements for ethnic minority people in Vietnam”. Volunteers from the U.S. Federal Women of the embassy in Vietnam and USAID also supported in the construction of the house. During the theme-focused build, Habitat Vietnam conducted a discussion on housing and mental health, including the impacts of mental health in family or household dynamics, the unknown potential mental health issues faced by their son Nhi, among others.  The discussion enabled the participants to understand how marriages are dictated by cultural traditions.  Both Nhao and Tinh are from the Muong ethnic minority group.

In 2021, Nhao’s family moved to a new decent home to strive for a better future. “I feel so thankful and blessed to see the very first steps of my son in this new home. It is the start of our future that my wife and I have always dreamt of,” says Nhao.

Habitat for Humanity Vietnam and its local partner have completed an eight-month project to improve the housing and sanitation facilities of vulnerable communities in Dong Thap province. Nearly 4,000 individuals were served with funding support from SC Johnson.

Located in Mekong Delta, nearly one in four people in Dong Thap still live below the poverty line despite having fertile land for agriculture. The province is also exposed to disasters such as severe flooding, saline intrusion, and storm surges. It is anticipated that 45% of the land in Dong Thap will be impacted by saltwater intrusion leading to crop damage and making it impossible for low-income households to make ends meet, let alone save for health and housing needs. The ongoing pandemic is exacerbating the existing gaps in the development of vulnerable communities.

In partnership with Thap Muoi District Women Union, Habitat Vietnam worked with 35 families to improve their homes and the access to adequate household latrines. The training on WASH and distribution of hygiene kits were also facilitated in the community. Through the project, over 1,200 preventive kits, including hygiene kits and personal protection equipment kits (PPE), have been distributed to front-line medical workers, school children and households.

In addition, two primary schools in Thanh Loi commune have significantly improved their sanitary and hygienic conditions, bringing a clean and healthy environment for 230 students through three newly-built and renovated school latrines with accessible design for people with disabilities. Both schools also have new handwashing facilities that help promote healthy hygienic habits for students to prevent the spread of diseases.

President of Thap Muoi District Women’s Union, Tran Thi Ngoc Cam, shared, “Our province has been greatly impacted by the recent pandemic outbreak with overloaded capacity in the quarantine area. Thanks to the timely provision of PPE and hygiene kits, medical staff and people are better prepared in the fight against the pandemic.” Tran added that with the project’s support on enhancing sanitation and living conditions of the people in Thap Muoi district, the community was able to achieve the national target program on building a new countryside in 2021. She added that it would be hard to complete the national target due to their limited resources, and was grateful to Habitat Vietnam and SC Johnson for their contribution to the community.

“Amid the pandemic, one of the most important ways to prevent the spread of disease is frequent handwashing with soap and water. But for vulnerable households in Dong Thap province, Vietnam, decent homes with adequate hygiene facilities for proper handwashing remain out of reach,” said Bells Regino-Borja, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Vietnam. “We are pleased to partner with SC Johnson through a project that improves health, safety and wellbeing of vulnerable households and community through adequate housing and sanitation and the provision of preventive kits. The partnership is committed to helping families, health workers, students and teachers gain protection against the virus and contribute to building back better.”

Alongside the beautiful Tra Bong River, Quang Ngai province, Binh Thanh 2 primary school is the education home for 670 students. The school’s located near the coast so it is vulnerable to typhoons. “Our school roof used to be blown off in 2017 and we replaced the new roof, with inappropriate typhoon resilient techniques applied. As a result, the roof cannot stand the intensity of typhoon Molave 2020. Our students again lost the shelter roof for education,” said To Van Duan, Principal of Binh Thanh 2 primary school.

Molave, one of the most devasting typhoons in decades, swept through Binh Son district, left behind hundreds of unroofed houses and schools, including Binh Thanh 2 primary school. Principal Duan indicated, “Our school was significantly damaged with blown off roof, no electricity and a run-down latrine causing the disruption in students’ education. Due to the lack of facilities, students were taught in makeshift classrooms, affecting their academic performance.”

In the post-disaster assessment, the Habitat Vietnam and GE foundation team realized the school needs financial and technical support to recover classrooms. The project team decided to support renovating six classrooms with appropriate typhoon resilient techniques, installing new electric system, providing of fans and lights, and building a new school latrine.

The roof applied appropriate typhoon resilient techniques with the galvanized iron sheets to ensure it was able to withstand storms/ strong winds. The truss frame system, beams and purlins were linked together to form an invariant system to ensure stability and certainty. The roof also used iron to anchor the purlin to the wall for stability and typhoon resilient twists instead of normal screws to guarantee the widest and surest friction force.

The new latrine is designed with separate sections for girls and boys with washbasins to encourage improved hygiene and it provides enough space for 40 students to use the latrine at the same time. It also provides accessibility features for disabilities such as stable handrails, low ramps, and wide doors so wheelchairs can easily move in and out. “The old latrine was built over 10 years ago, so it was totally devasted after the typhoon. With the new latrine, students will feel more comfortable and safer. The handwashing facility also helps teachers deliver proper education on hygiene practices to students, especially protective measures during the pandemic,” Principal Duan shared.

Moreover, the school renovation with typhoon resistance standards plays an important role in the disaster preparedness in Binh Son district. “In disaster, the community house is usually used as an evacuation center; however, its capacity is just up to 100 people. With the new resilient feature, our school could contribute as an additional evacuation site with the capacity up to 300 people,” said Principal Duan. “Thanks to Habitat Vietnam and GE Foundation, not only our students get a safer and healthier school for their academic pursuits, but the community now also has a place to evacuate when necessary. In the upcoming time, we plan to integrate the knowledge on safe shelter in the curriculum of Grade 4 and 5 students to develop the risk reduction capacity for children and teachers, linking schools and communities.”

Viet Nam is extremely vulnerable to climate change impacts given its extensive coastline and river deltas, and highlands. In every ten people, seven living in inadequate shelters have to face the risk of typhoons, torrential storms and flooding, which hit Vietnam annually. The worst sufferers of the disaster impacts are the communities and people in the rural areas.

Huynh Minh, who has spent all his life in rural area of Mekong Delta, shared, “Things have changed drastically over the last few years. In the past, we suffered six months of salt-water intrusion, but now, this has expanded to seven months because of reduced rainfall. This means that we have less time to grow his rice crop and that the quality of the crop is also affected.”

To strengthen the disaster-resilient capacity of vulnerable communities in Quang Nam and Dong Thap provinces, Habitat Vietnam in a partnership with DFAT (Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Habitat Australia, undertook a holistic PASSA (participatory approach for safe shelter awareness) within a two-year CBDRM phase III project. PASSA is an approach that gives control over planning, decisions, and investment resources for local development projects to community groups allow creating partnerships where different actors provide adapted support based on the demands from the community itself.

This approach has changed the traditional way of working of the local government, in which the problems are solved from top to bottom (government-people) and built confidence in disaster preparedness for local communities. During the project implementation, villagers were trained on safe shelter and actively developed communal improvement action plans based on community priorities and available resources with gender consideration and PWD inclusion. 87 vulnerable households were served through improved housing conditions, and four action plans of disaster preparedness were developed by community members with the support from DFAT and Habitat Australia.

“PASSA is new but very meaningful for us, it brought the opportunities for the villagers to join the process meetings, where they can raise their voices, contribute their ideas, opinions for the action plans and engage with the community groups;” Thia (one of 100 iconic women worldwide and a key member of PASSA group in Hung Thanh Commune, Dong Thap province) shared, “People have changed their mind thoughts on safe and unsafe housings. Previously, many of them thought that living on the river edge was cool and airy, but now they realize that it might be vulnerable and risky for their families. Some households are planning to renovate their homes to make them stronger, safer, and more disaster resilient by utilizing the knowledge they learned.”

At the end of the project, over 7,000 people benefited from renovated infrastructures and facilities and awareness-raising events in two disaster-prone provinces in Vietnam. With the achieved results of the project, the local authorities have expressed interest in applying this approach to improving housing safety and other social-economic issues. Cuong, Vice Chairman of Hung Thanh Commune People’s Committee, said, “The PASSA integration meetings ensure more sustainability than the current practice of the commune, which just focuses on propaganda when storms are about to happen. Hung Thanh commune will continue to apply this approach in the coming time to strengthen communication and raise awareness on housing safety for people so that they can be proactive in responding to storms.”