FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR’S DESK

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year greetings from Habitat for Humanity India!

As we enter a new year, we are filled with hope and determination to achieve our vision of building a world where everyone has a decent place to live. 2023 will mark a significant milestone for Habitat - 40 years of rebuilding India, one brick at a time. We are grateful for the support and commitment of our donors, volunteers, and partners who have joined us on this journey. 

We are grateful for the time we had to reflect on time management last year, looking at managing our time, talent, and treasure. On how human capital can create the synergy needed for an all-around social and financial ROI as we navigate the new frontier of impact investing. In the past year, we have been able to make a positive impact on the lives of thousands of families through our housing and housing-ecosystem solutions. This was possible because of our focus on time management and rigorous financial accountability, with the understanding that time and money saved is income earned. 

As we move forward in the new year, we will continue to work tirelessly to build safe and affordable housing partnering with supporters and communities to create sustainable and inclusive housing solutions while addressing the challenges around sanitation and access to water.  

We are confident that with your continued support, we will be able to achieve even greater things in the coming year. Thank you again for your support and dedication to the cause of building strength, stability, and self-reliance with families in the country.

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

Chaya Shinde, Osmanabad, Maharashtra

Chaya Shinde (32), lives with her husband Pandurang and their three children – Tanushka (11), Aryan (10), and Aditi (8) – in Mandava, Osamanabad district, Maharashtra. She was employed as a construction worker along with Pandurang, who is a mason.

Chaya attended the training offered by Project Nirmanshree in construction-related skills and learned that she was quite good at making cleaning products. She attended the Social Enterprises Training and Entrepreneurship Training Program held in September 2021. In the training program, Chaya learned how to build a business and sustain it.

“The toilet cleaning products are household items with a good demand in the village and nearby communities,” says Chaya who identified the need for her product and established her enterprise in June 2022.

What is unique about her enterprise is the network built for marketing and sale of this product. Chaya has assigned two women from Mandava village who are in turn linked with shops in 5 other villages. In total, there are 10 women supporting the sale and earning a commission from her enterprise.

“Thanks to the training and handholding support offered by the team of Project Nirmanshree, I have been able to build this business from the ground up and sell products that are important for running the households of many families,” says Chaya.

Learn more about Chaya and other women entrepreneurs.

Regional People-Public-Private Partnership Workshop in Thailand

Habitat for Humanity International hosted the final People-Public-Private Partnership (P4) workshop from 6^th-9^th December 2022 at Bangkok, Thailand. Mr. Justin Jebakumar, Director - Government Relations and Mr. Saint Kamei, Manager - Communications represented Habitat India at the workshop. 10 ongoing P4 projects from the Asia Pacific, Europe, and Africa that received backstopping support from Habitat International presented the project outcomes at the workshop.

The backstopping support, provided by Hilti Foundation, is enabling Habitat National and Regional Offices to strengthen the P4 component and to embed collaborative approach in addressing the housing-ecosystem challenges in their respective countries. All projects were given an opportunity to present the progress, lessons learnt, and challenges faced. Habitat India, apart from its presentation also showcased the talking comic video tutorial developed as the capacity building and awareness generation tool for its P4 pilot project named Odisha Gruhabikas Program.

Habitat India’s Odisha Gruhabikas Program (OGP) began in Puri district supporting the State Government’s vision of creating a slum-free Odisha by transforming slums into liveable habitats. The project’s Housing Support Services has expanded to Dhenkanal and Balangir now. A vital aspect of this project is to provide financial assistance in the form of gap-funding to the slum dwellers who are eligible to build their homes under Government of India’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The gap funding provided through Svatantra Micro Housing Finance Corporation Limited enables the families to complete their homes in a timely and efficient manner. Till date, 154 families have built homes through P4-Odisha Gruhabikas Program.

Launch of Green Habitats and Habitat Young Leaders Build

Climate change has far-reaching impacts on the people of the country. However, the millions of families Habitat partners with are often among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which include increasingly common and severe weather events such as cyclones, floods and droughts. These events can result in tragic outcomes for families, including damage to or complete loss of their homes. We believe we have a responsibility to recognize that climate change has a disproportionate impact on the people we serve, and that to be accountable to them, we must address that impact through resilient housing.

Habitat for Humanity India launched its Green Habitats campaign to raise awareness of climate change and to urge youth to take urgent climate action for preserving a livable planet climate.

Click here to know more and take an action today.

Engagement with Youth from IB Schools

On 9^th December 2022, Habitat for Humanity India launched Habitat Young Leaders Build (HYLB) along with Green Habitats Campaign in collaboration with leading schools across India. This campaign will encourage students to raise awareness about climate change and the urgent need to take climate action. The campaign was launched at The NEXT School, Mumbai by Dr. Rajan Samuel, Managing Director, Habitat for Humanity India. He was joined by Radhika Dharmarajan, Head of School and Suprieya Kutty, Creativity Action Service (CAS) Coordinator, The NEXT school.

The launch was followed by a fireside chat with Dr. Rajan Samuel. Additionally, 75 students from Ascend International School, Mumbai; MIT Vishwashanti Gurukul, Pune; JBCN International School, Oshiwara; Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur; and Strawberry Fields High School, Chandigarh participated in the Green Habitats campaign.

Livelihood Support for Women in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Odisha

Habitat India partnered with Standard Chartered Bank to provide 969 women with upskilling, alternative livelihood opportunities, and assistance in establishing micro-enterprises to generate additional income. The project is known as Empowering Women and Improving Life through Livelihood Interventions.  

These women are from the states of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Odisha. The aim of this project is to equip the women with leadership and technical skills, engage them in income generation activities and empower them to achieve strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build a better life for their families.

This initiative was accomplished by forming and strengthening 85 self-help groups (SHG) across these three states, through which women were brought together, trained in business development, marketing, and government scheme comprehension. The SHGs were assisted in establishing their own businesses through seed funding, hand-holding, and multi-level technical training from Habitat’s subject matter experts.

“We firmly believe that women are the torchbearers for new India's social, economic, and environmental development. Our changemakers initiative aims to empower women so that the female workforce can bring about a paradigm shift toward economic growth. It was a pleasure to collaborate with Habitat for Humanity India in this project to provide alternative and unique livelihood opportunities for these inspiring women,” said Ms. Karuna Bhatia, Head of Sustainability, India, Standard Chartered Bank.

Assam Flood Response Appeal

In the aftermath of the devastating Assam floods, Habitat for Humanity India is distributing Humanitarian Aid Kits (HAKs) to disaster-affected families in Assam with support from local partners and district administrations.

Supported by Standard Chartered India, 1498 families in Biswanath and Darrang districts received support through Humanitarian Aid Kits with home essentials to support families to get back on their feet.

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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