habiTaT spiriT Fall/Winter 2012 - Habitat for Humanity Canada

Another
path home
The dusty, rutted road that leads to Halima Bagaaya’s house
doesn’t bear the load of cars often. The route from northwestern
Uganda’s Katasenywa village is usually accomplished on foot.
Young boys push bicycles overloaded with green banana
bunches. Women walk the road to reach the nearest well,
balancing the ubiquitous, bright-yellow water jugs that are
mass-produced in the capital city of Kampala. Only the slow
crescendo of an approaching boda-boda – Uganda’s
motorcycle taxi – forces foot traffic to the side.
Three years ago, a passerby wouldn’t have seen much of
Halima’s house along this road. At that point, the 41-year-old
widow had completed only the foundation of her future home.
Halima had the know-how and labor help she needed to build
the rest – money and building materials, however, were
another matter.
As work remained at a standstill, Halima continued to pay
rent for temporary housing elsewhere. “It was frustrating,” she
remembers. “Having to pay rent and other costs, it was difficult
to store up all I needed to finish the house.”
Then, one of Halima’s cousins told her about Habitat for
Humanity Uganda, and something new Habitat was offering:
housing microfinance. Halima decided to apply for a housing
loan through the program. She completed an orientation on
loan policies and procedures, and Habitat staff visited her to
assess her situation.
In early 2009, Halima received her first Habitat housing loan.
She used it to build the walls of her house. She had been able to
secure some materials for the roof and used some of her savings
to complete it.
After paying off her initial loan in 2010, Halima took out a
second Habitat loan to plaster, paint and complete the flooring.
Today, her brick home is complete. She has a door that locks,
offering protection for her, her sister Zahara Kimuli, and
Halima’s 2-year-old niece, Halima Byanjeru. A white curtain
blows back and forth on the breeze that sails through the
window into the sitting room. Out back, Halima has been able to
construct a chicken coop; hundreds of chicks provide her
household with a steady source of income.
To the front and sides of the house, Halima and her sister have
planted Irish potatoes, yams, tomatoes and onions. There are
also several trees: mango, jackfruit and, of course, plantain –
which is necessary to make matoke, the ever-present national
dish in Uganda.
“It just makes you feel like you belong somewhere,” Halima says.
Halima Bagaaya was able to complete her
home after receiving a microfinance loan
through Habitat for Humanity Uganda.
Why housing microfinance?
Habitat Uganda has distributed more than 1,600 housing loans
to people like Halima Bagaaya. While the approach remains
relatively new in Uganda, it’s become a much more common tool
for Habitat worldwide over the past decade, with housing
microfinance programs now in more than 30 countries.
“Housing microfinance aims to fill the gap when families can’t
finish a house or need help making home improvements,” says
Mike Carscaddon, Habitat for Humanity International’s
Executive Vice President for International Field Operations.
Housing microfinance gives families the flexibility to build
in stages, at a speed that fits their needs and their resources.
“In the developing world, we have learned that housing is a
process,” Carscaddon says. “Housing is a verb – not a noun
or a final product.”
partnering with The mastercard Foundation to expand
microfinance possibilities in sub-saharan africa
Through a new partnership, Habitat for Humanity Canada,
Habitat for Humanity International and The MasterCard
Foundation will enable more than 17,000 additional households
like Halima’s to access the housing microfinance products and
services they need to improve their lives.
Focusing on Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, the five-year project
launched October 2012 will work with up to nine local financial
institutions already serving the poor to build their capacity and
diversify products and services in order to meet shelter-related
needs. In total, the project will provide $6.6 million to expand
microfinance services for the maintenance and improvement of
homes like Halima Bagaaya’s in these three African countries.
(Above) 37-year-old Echum Hassim Oguta of Bweyale, Uganda is a
house-builder who has never had a decent home of his home before
now. He migrated to Uganda’s Masindi district from Gulu, in
northern Uganda, when the fighting was fiercest during the
country’s civil war. He and his family stayed in three traditional mud
huts on land provided by the government for displaced people. While
living there, Echum built other people’s houses, bringing home extra
building materials when he could. With a microfinance loan from
Habitat for Humanity Uganda’s Masindi branch, he installed
windows and doors, and was able to plaster and concrete his home.
(Below) Echum Hassim Oguta’s 10-year-old son, Mujahid Echum,
walks on the path to his family’s home.
(Left) Christine Tesot of
Bomet, Kenya washes
dishes outside her family’s
home. Christine’s husband,
Kipkorir Tesot, a retired
teacher and subsistence
farmer, was able to complete
construction on his family’s
home after receiving a series
a small loans from Habitat
Kenya’s microfinance
program. The loans allowed
him to build his home in
stages with materials he
had been saving for more
than 10 years.
To donate, participate or advocate, visit www.habitat.ca 11
Habitat for Humanity/Steffan Hacker
Habitat for Humanity international/ezra Millstein Habitat for Humanity international/ezra Millstein