Digging for a Reason

During my second day here, I joined volunteers for an afternoon with Habitat for Humanity. It was a fulfilling experience beyond words; an experience that humbled as well stirred something within. We shovel-dug, set cinderblocks and poured cement for the foundations for what was to become three homes, for three families. No big machines, just human-powered physics with a shovel, ax, and what would be a sore back and blistered hands.

The Habitat model is simple. A family is selected for a house. They pay 500,000Kw ($111) for a down payment. For mortgage, they pay enough for four bags of cement per month for 15 years, so there will be enough for future homes in their neighborhood/community to be built. The square four-room houses cost Habitat approx $4000 to build along the dusty dirt roads (the rest come from donations and labor is typically abundant in Habitat community projects) There is no plumbing in each home, just electricity. Water comes from the local well and must be carried daily to each home. Habitat’s a simple model that has shown great results building communities.

Local families came, dressed in their Sunday best. The three U.S. Marine volunteers took a permanent break after 90 mins of work. We had 2hrs and 30mins left and they found that time more fulfilling checking out the American International School female volunteers. I was disappointed in them being all they could be, especially when compared to the big-hearted Zambians. I was surprised when a man on crutches hopped beside me in the trench and leaned on the walls for support to help me dig. A pregnant woman with a child strapped to her back mixed cement as I loaded and poured wheeled barrows of gravel. A disabled gentleman with a hunchback and a sling filled in blows when my arms were limp from chopping down stubborn tree stumps. I left with a golden film of dirt everywhere and couldn’t be happier. The children applauded those of us that worked as we left. The men gave me a thumbs up. The only clean streak on my body was the wet trail from an eye down the cheek. Nothing motivated me more than speaking and working with the families, yet angered me more than corrupt politicians and foreign aid donors who don’t hold the governments accountable to fair distribution of aid.

Gotta love Jimmy Carter for developing this program. Successful pet projects like this make you wonder about the potential of foreign aid. In the midst of my bitching, I spoke with a USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) officer, also volunteering, about the current reality; he said that roughly 80% of the millions in U.S. foreign aid go straight to corrupt government pockets and not the people who need them in Africa. He has been traveling to Africa from D.C. during the last five years to tackle the challenge. When the citizens become aware of the problem, Zambia can then get closer to the solution. There is growing awareness –just not critical mass. Yet.

In November, Habitat will build a house in one day. There will be no prime time national T.V. coverage, no spiky hair guy shouting obnoxiously in a microphone, or selfish product placements. There will be no bus to move. Just 150 volunteers, shouting for a family to move in.

I hope to be one of those shouting volunteers.

sean_deluna@yahoo.com