Lal Singh (80) and his wife Kamla Devi (75) live in Sehrawan village, Haryana. There are 7 people in their household. Their eldest son Neeraj (36) is married to Rinu (21) and has a son Prince (1). Their two other sons Ashok Kumar (32) and Swaraj (23) are both unmarried. The family had a long struggle to build a house that can shelter seven members.

Rinu and Kamla Devi also had trouble maintaining their privacy since there was just one room to cook, sleep in and store things. While they had built a toilet outside the house, it was in a bad shape. The house had long since become a dangerous place to live in - the roof was crumbling and the walls on the verge of collapse. They couldn’t afford to fix it because of their financial condition.

Lal Singh has been pushing himself to work as a security guard since the income from his two sons Ashok and Swaraj who worked in a car manufacturing factory as labourers, was not enough to make ends meet.

When Habitat for Humanity India partnered with Fluor Daniel to build homes with vulnerable families in the village of Sehrawan, Lal Singh was among the 5 families selected. The groundbreaking for the homes was held on 31st January 2020 and the homes were handed over to the families on 19th September 2020.

The core house with a room and veranda provides the base for the family. Since people in the village prefer to wash clothes and utensils outside, a separate space is provided as part of the construction. Earlier the family depended on irregular water supply to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. In their new Habitat home, they can even store water in the tank!

“Every member of my family is safe in this house. A clean, spacious and hygienic place to live in is something we had long hoped for. We are thankful to Fluor Daniel and Habitat for this act of kindness,” says Lal Singh.