27 Luni

Our Peace Corps Country Director is understandably a big fan of Habitat for Humanity.  She worked on builds with the organization during her time as a Peace Corps Volunteer and then later found employment there, finishing her six years with Habitat as a Director of Volunteer Engagement.  As our Country Director in Romania, she collaborated with the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity in 2011 on a week-long build to construct a house from start to finish with homeowner, Volunteer and host country manpower.  Although I was here in country at the time, my group and I were still confined to our three months of pre-service training so, unfortunately, we couldn’t contribute, but the stories we heard about the event were only positive.  In the summer of 2012 she had hoped to coordinate a “caravan” of sorts where various volunteers from different parts of Romania would help facilitate different Habitat projects in their regions.  However, due to lack of funding, the project never really got off the ground.  It seemed as though our chances of participating in a Habitat build, such as the one other volunteers had incessantly bragged about for two years, were increasingly unlikely as our time drew down.  So it should come as no surprise that within seconds of receiving an e-mail requesting volunteers for a last minute build in May, I shot back a message with an enthusiastic “Yes! Count me in.”

Certainly, I had heard the name Habitat for Humanity before, but honestly never really knew how the organization worked; if cornered, I probably would have said that they are a charity that procures materials with donations, builds houses with volunteer labor and then gives the home over to the lucky homeowner.  As it turns out this isn’t entirely true.  As outlined by their website, Habitat is “a non-profit, Christian organization that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action worldwide.”  Yes, they do take donations of money and materials and use volunteer labor, but the important clarification is that the homeowner also invests hundreds of hours toward the build and pays a down payment on the home and pays a mortgage.  Habitat provides the new homeowner with the no-profit, low-cost loan and the repayment is placed in a revolving fund used to build or renovate more Habitat houses.

This particular Habitat for Humanity build was for the Chirca family in Oarja Romania, just outside of Pitești on the map, and was already well underway when we arrived.  A group of about 15 of us Peace Corps Volunteers were brought in for two full days to mainly help with landscaping outside the house and insulation and drywall on the inside.  Both days were absolutely beautiful with comfortably warm weather and bright fluffy clouds dotting the sky.  Working alongside two of the family members and a guest appearance by the village mayor’s daughter, we quite literally whistled while we worked.  Well perhaps it was more like off key singing as American Volunteers sung their favorite show tunes from Glee; hopefully the Chirca family doesn‘t think all Americans are crazy like us.  Despite the odd looks from the locals we powered through two exhausting days but finished up our tasks feeling quite satisfied.

Many friends tell me that they can’t believe that I volunteered for two years with the Peace Corps and that they could never do it themselves.  First of all, many of us underestimate ourselves and with just a handful of events changed, any of my friends could have been writing this blog post in my place.  The real fact of the matter is that you don’t have to invest two years of your life to make a significant difference in the lives of others.  Using a little of our free time here and there we can help immensely to improve the lives of others.  Habitat is only one example.  My recommendation is that you first figure out what your personal interests are and then find a volunteer opportunity that matches.  I guarantee that you won’t have to fly half way around the world to feel good about yourself while making a difference.

Check out the following websites for some ideas:

Habitat for Humanity

Volunteer Match

Tabernacle Baptist Church in Richmond, VA.