Habitat for Humanity may work around the corner from you, but we also work across Canada and around the world. Through Habitat’s Global Village volunteer trips, you can volunteer with us in more than 40 nations.
Our trips offer more than just the opportunity to swing a hammer. You’ll experience the country like a local, with the locals. Meet people from around the world with all different kinds of backgrounds, races and religions.
Spending time with other cultures doesn’t mean just exploring the differences, but also discovering the commonalities. You’ll find that you don’t even need to speak the language.
We have various opportunities depending on your area of interest, including building one house or many houses at a time, advocating for policy while building, disaster recovery, minor and major home repairs, energy efficiency projects, working with vulnerable populations like children or the disabled, and also trips just for women.
Your participation in one of these trips helps support Habitat’s ongoing homebuilding efforts. While your personal trip may last for a week or more, your financial, emotional and physical contributions can be life-changing for both those in the communities where you work and in your own life for years to come.
Habitat for Humanity is celebrating five years of rebuilding in Haiti. After being the first NGO to work in Simon Pelé and working for several years, 250 homes were retrofitted and over 3,200 residents were trained in construction and disaster reduction.
Dominique Bourjolly, a mother of four, said Habitat made a big difference in her neighbourhood in Simon Pelé.
“Before the repairs started, most of the homes in this area did not have support,” she said. “Habitat came in and retrofitted them and educated our community on the ways to build back better for the future.”
In 2016, 1.426 Habitat for Humanity volunteers helped to support 1,404 families in Ethiopia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti. In Cambodia, homes were built for 15 families, and over 1,200 people took part in land tenure workshops. This year, Habitat for Humanity is hosting a Big Build event in Battambang, Cambodia. The build will take place from November 13-17, 2017. To find out more, email Karla Bonilla at kbonilla@habitat.ca.
This story was adapted from a post published on habitat.org