House building

As part of our aim to support healthy and supportive learning environments, in 2007 two houses were renovated through donations.

The first house is home to Bridget’s family, who lived with her mother, who suffers from skin diseases and open wounds. The children Christelbel, Marie-Noel, Rodrique, Harris and Bridgets granddaughter Elsa use a room that is actually a kitchen. Rodrique and Harris attend primary school and are beneficiaries of the OVC program.
The kitchen is approximately 15 m² large room with an open fireplace, where three times a day meals are cooked. The smoke has no way to escape and irritates the eyes and respiratory tract. In the room are 2 beds, which the family shares.
Normally no family would live or sleep in a kitchen, due to the unbearable and unhealthy consequences caused by smoke. This family had no other choice. The house, with two rooms in which they wanted to live in was never completed.
We decided to support this single family’s living situation, and are happy to see the quality of life of the children and the whole family has enormously improved. The repairs were done and the house is now in excellent condition.

The potential house

Bridget's family in front of the redeveloped house

The second house is home to the family of Adeline Wirsiy. The single mother lives with her 7 children: Desmond, Marie-Claire, Alfons, Nelson, Gabriel, Arnold, Giom and the over 100-year-old father in a loan brick house. Her income as a farmer is low and she tries to create some income through occasional sales at market days. Five of the children are of school age and Desmond, Nelson, Gabriel and Giom have serious health problems. The problem of the house was a broken roof. In the rainy season, the old grandfather could not sleep because the water dropped on his bed. The mother had to cook under the rain in the kitchen. The children could not stay in the living room, which is only about 10 m² because the soil was completely muddy. In this environment it is impossible to learn. Also the poor health situation threatened the education of children and the income of the family, when Adeline had to stay at home. With the repair of the roof, the situation of the family has dramatically improved. The children can now stay in cleaner conditions, and are not as often ill as before.

The old roof	Broken roof sheet
Adel's family in front of the house with the new roof	Water on floor in the house