FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR’S DESK

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Habitat for Humanity India!

World Toilet Day is an official United Nations international observance day held on 19^th November every year to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. As per the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 1.7 billion people live without basic sanitation facilities in 2020 and around 494 million people practice open defecation.

In India, the Government and Non-Government Organisations including Habitat for Humanity India have accelerated their work, time and resources in the area of Water, Sanitation and Hygine (WaSH) since the start of the the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Clean India Mission launched by the honourable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi in 2014. We are proud of our work in India and our efforts to provide access to improved sanitation for children, women, families, schools and communities through ‘hardware’ interventions such as Community Sanitation Complexes, School Sanitation and Hygiene Education and Individual Household Latrines complemented by sustained ‘heartware’ in the form of Behaviour Change Communication efforts. All of this has resulted in building 11,77,800 sanitation units and impacting 3,26,13,887 people through the Sensitise to Sanitise coalition.

Building the infrastructure alone is not enough. To supplement the work done around access to sanitation facilities at the household, schools and community levels, efforts should be made to ensure the availability of water. The focus should be to promote rainwater harvesting both to recharge the groundwater as well as storing of rainwater.

One key learning from our work in this area is the importance of convergence and synergy through partnership with organisations and engagement with the Government. Public-Private-People's Partnership helps in facilitating, mobilizing resources, and implementing the programs all the while ensuring the community ownership which is crucial for the sustainability of any interventions.

Habitat believes in building healthy housing ecosystems which support safe, decent homes with better sanitation, ease of access to water and better community facilities to build a healthier India.

On that note, we urge you to keep supporting Habitat for Humanity’s work in the country. Your support enables us to continue the critical work in housing, sanitation, and disaster response ensuring that families achieve strength, stability, and self-reliance they need to build a better future.

Wishing you and your family good health and good fortune.

In partnership, Dr. Rajan Samuel Managing Director Habitat for Humanity India

Geeta, Rewari, Haryana

Geeta (49) was widowed when her husband Rohtash Kumar passed away after a bout of dengue in 2009, leaving her and their only child behind. Her son Gaurav was only 11 when they lost Rohtash.

Losing Rohtash, the breadwinner of the family hit the family hard since they were barely sustaining a meagre income from working as farm labourers. Geeta received support from her in-laws to educate Gaurav at the Ghatal Mahaniyawas Government Secondary School. Things were hard for the family as the makeshift home they lived in leaked during the rainy seasons.

“We struggled a lot. The stone slab roof would leak and drench the fireplace and the entire house. There were days we went hungry because we couldn’t make fire,’’ says Geeta.

In 2011, the Government of Haryana announced the Lal Dora Scheme allotting land to 97 marginalized families in Ghatal Mahaniyawas. Geeta was among the homeowners who received the land. Despite becoming an owner of her land, Geeta continued working as a farm labourer to eke out a living as Gaurav completed school and started attending Kapriwas Senior Secondary School, a town near the village.

While she dreamt of building a house of her own, she could not make enough to build the house on her own. She continued to stay in the ricketing shack she and Rohtash had built over ten years back.

In March 2022, The Muthoot Group partnered with Habitat for Humanity India to build home for 20 families in the Ghatal Mahaniyawas village. All the 20 homes were handed over to the families in Ocotber 2022.

The new home has given Geeta much needed stability she always longed for. With Gaurav coming of age now, she took a loan to put him to a medical school to study Diploma in Pharmacy at D.R. College of Pharmacy, Pataudi.

“I remember how my mother struggled through the hard times. This housing project was Godsent. Because it would have taken us decades to build a house like this. Now this is a foundation for our better future,” says Gaurav, 24, who recently completed his diploma.

“I am so thankful for this new house. It would have been very difficult to build a house of this quality on my own. My heartfelt thanks to The Muthoot Group, Habitat India and all the workers who worked to help us realise our hope and dream of owning a beautiful home,” says Geeta.

20 Families in Haryana Celebrated Diwali in their New Homes

On 19^th October 2022, 20 families in Ghatal Mahaniyawas, Rewari, Haryana received keys to their homes in a dedication ceremony held at the Muthoot Group office in Delhi. The Muthoot Aashiyana project is a unique housing project where Habitat India is demonstrating the Public-Private-People's Partnership model to build homes.

The project was initiated in April 2022 to build homes with families who were allocated land through the Government of Haryana’s Lal Dora Scheme 2011. Out of the 20 homeowners, 13 are widows, and 7 belong to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category. The 400 sq. ft. home structure includes 2 bedrooms, one hall, a kitchen, and an attached toilet bathroom.

Mr. V. Muraleedharan, Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India; Mr. Robin Hibu (IPS), Special Commissioner - Delhi Police; Mr. George Jacob Muthoot, Chairman - The Muthoot Group; Mr. George Alexander Muthoot, Managing Director - The Muthoot Group; Mr. Alexander George Muthoot, Joint Managing Director - The Muthoot Group and Dr. Rajan Samuel, Managing Director Habitat for Humanity India were present for the ceremony.

Habitat India and LG India to Build Homes in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra

On 19^th October 2022, Habitat for Humanity India signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with LG Electronics India to undertake a comprehensive housing and sanitation project in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Khed, Maharashtra. Through the project - to be completed by October 2023 – Habitat India will build 16 houses and 40 Individual Household Latrines in Modinagar, Ghaziabad, and 18 houses and 40 new Individual Household Latrines in Khed, Maharashtra.

This is the third such partnership between Habitat India and LG India in the recent past. Under the recently completed Life's Good Hope Village project implemented in 2 phases, Habitat India has built 17 new homes, 25 Individual Household Latrines, a school sanitation complex, distributed LG appliances, painted a school, and installed Solar Street Lights in Khed block located in Pune district of Maharashtra.

Mr. Sunil Ranjhan - Vice President, Human Resources; Mr. David Jeong - Director, Corporate Marketing; Mr. Ashish Aggarwal - Vice President, Corporate Planning; Mr. Vinod Kumar - Vice President, Audit; Mr. Atul Khanna - Vice President, Finance and Accounts represented LG India while Habitat India was represented by Dr. Rajan Samuel - Managing Director; Mr. Mohan D’Souza - Director, Resource Development (North and South Block); and Mr. Vaibhav Lal, Manager - Programs, North and North East Block at the MoU signing in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

Project Nirmanshree - A Project Funded by the European Union

Assam Flood Response Appeal

Even as the flood water recedes in Assam, hundreds of families are still in need of disaster resilient housing.

Habitat for Humanity places the families affected by natural disasters on a path to durable and sustainable shelter solutions in a phase-wise manner through its Pathways to Permanence disaster response strategy.

To donate, visit https://habitatindia.org/campaigns/assam-flood-response-appeal/

To support us through CSR, please get in touch with:
Suprita Tambe (Director – Resource Development Support): [email protected]
Mohan D'souza (Director – Resource Development): [email protected]

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