I spent a few weeks in January in the Philippines where I have been working on putting together a Habitat for Humanity project for three years. This is a joint project between Habitat for Humanity-Minnesota and Habitat for Humanity-Philippines to build homes for Filipino staff at the Children’s Shelter of Cebu (CSC), an orphanage started by Bethel Philosophy Department grad Paul Healy and his wife Marlys in 1979. Many of the employees of CSC live in marginal housing and my son Joel (who has been working at CSC for 8 years) and I have wanted to do something significant for them. My role has been in putting the project together and, of course, fundraising.
On January 7 land was purchased and on
January 22 we had a ground breaking ceremony.
The CEO for HFH-Philippines, Charlie Ayco, flew down from Manila for the
occasion and Jan Plimpton, Executive Director of HFH-MN, also took part in the
ceremony. (She traveled to Cebu with me
and we also visited HFH rebuild sites in Bohol, Cebu, and Leyte related to the
typhoon and earthquake disasters.) But
most important, a number of the employees of CSC who will be getting new homes
were able to be present. The actual
building of the 70+ homes should start this spring, and I expect to be back in
Cebu again this summer to continue working on the project.
The site of the housing project
The ground-breaking. Paul is 2nd from the left.
Some of the workers at the orphanage who will get houses.
Paul speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony.
If you want to contribute to this cause or participate in a Bike Trainer Ride fundraising event, please see the following links:
Register online (free) for the Bike Trainer Ride here (registration at the event is also possible):
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