Beyond Houses: Eco-Initiatives
Habitat Sri Lanka supports numerous initiatives that go beyond the building of houses. We always seek to protect the environment, support livelihoods among homeowners, be frugal in our use of money and resources, and help communities reach their full potential. Here are some of the programs we hope to expand as funds are available.
Home Gardens
At all homeowner orientations we promote home gardening for personal use and income generation. Many Save & Build families get money for their payments through these gardens. At our 196-house project in Mandana, we obtained donations of seedlings and saplings for each family and instructed them in home gardening. With additional funds and donations, HFHSL hopes to help every Habitat family start a thriving home garden.
Reforestation
Home building, gathering of firewood and the timber industry have reduced the forest cover in Sri Lanka from 55% in the 1950s to 22% today. Our Save & Build groups are asked to re-plant in areas where they have cut wood for houses and firewood. Sri Lanka’s Department of Reforestation donates saplings towards this effort, but the number of trees given is not enough to replenish what we use and what has previously been harvested. HFHSL hopes to find support to expand reforestation in Sri Lanka and use homeowner groups to implement it.
Wells for Water
According to our homeowners, access to potable water and water for gardening and washing is their biggest challenge. During the dry season, water slows construction of houses. HFHSL has partnered with various organizations to provide wells in Habitat communities, but we cannot meet the demand. A tube well costs 75,000 rupees (US $750.00) and supports approximately 10 families. HFHSL is exploring programs to 1) help groups use Save & Build to acquire tube wells and to 2) request donation of materials from the government to build wells and have Habitat families supply the labor.
Solar Cookers
With simple instructions and using materials that cost 250 rupees (US $2.50), a homeowner can build a solar cooker in 30 minutes. Solar cookers can take care of 80% of a family’s cooking needs, and they even pasteurize water. The closer to the equator, the better the cookers work, so they are ideal for Sri Lankan families. Solar cookers reduce the demand for wood, cause no harm to the environment, eliminate health and safety hazards caused by wood fires, and keep the inside of the house cool. By using solar cookers, women are freed from the burden of gathering wood. If funds are available, HFHSL wants to include solar cookers as a standard part of its housing program.
Waste Management
HFHSL house plans include a water-sealed pit toilet for each family, enclosed for safety and privacy. In some urban areas and in the tea estates, where families live in “barracks” and share toilets, the need for toilets can surpass the need for shelter (at a Habitat project in Colombo, 96 families share four toilets!). But the issue is much larger than having a toilet of ones own. In crowded areas, especially, human waste pollutes the ground water and poses grave health and environmental issues. Habitat Sri Lanka has partnered with World Toilet Organization/Singapore and WASTE/Netherlands to implement different systems to solve these problems. These include hydroponic wetland systems, biodigesters, urine diversification and compartment-type toilets. Recently we partnered with World Concern to include a demonstration waste-separating toilet for composting at a 196-house site in Mandana. Such programs actually turn damaging waste products into useful components. Through more partnerships and funding, our goal is environment-friendly waste management for all!
Peace Building
To promote dialog and understanding among ethnic and religious groups in Sri Lanka, Habitat organized “Tour and Build” in April 2000. A diverse group of 50 HFHSL staff and board members spent six days building in several cities, joined by local supporters in each place. Media coverage raised awareness of our cause. HFHSL has also sponsored “exchange programs” of volunteers in Batticaloa and Matale, in which, for example, Sinhalese youth built and lived with Tamil families. Interviews with the participants reveal that the program was truly life-changing for both the volunteers and the homeowner families. The expenses for these trips were sponsored by individual donors. With more funding, we hope to expand this program, particularly in light of a recent rise in ethnic tension in Sri Lanka.
Habitat Resource Centers
Habitat Resource Centers now operate in Batticaloa, Galle and Trincomalee. They save money, ensure quality of construction materials, and provide a central, safe location for all building supplies. Just as important, they give Habitat partner families the “hand up” of much-needed income and training in marketable skills. Because these Centers are well-established, we can supply many details on their success:
Disaster Response Support in Tirrukovil (Ampara District)
The Habitat Resource Center in Tirrukovil is staffed by current and future homeowners of HFHSL’s tsunami-reconstruction project in Mandana. On an average day, 15 workers produce approximately 4,200 sand/cement blocks, 20 window frames and 20 door frames. Cement is mixed on site by hand, and the donation of a cement mixer would be a welcome addition to the Center. Blocks are made in hand-operated presses and are slightly larger than those made for Habitat’s regular Save and Build program in order to speed production. Small quantities of ¼, ½, and ¾-sized blocks are also produced to replace pieces of block broken during construction.
Support for Save and Build Program in Batticaloa
To support its regular Save and Build program, HFHSL opened a Resource Center on 150 perches of donated land near Batticaloa Town four months ago. The Habitat homeowners who work at the Center make 1,500 - 1,700 sand/cement blocks and 6 - 8 window and door frames per day. Habitat had the site wired for electricity, and locals have begun to build in the area because of this new access to power. A natural pond at the Center supplies water for the cement, and HFHSL hopes to find a sponsor for running water for this project.
The site is equipped with two large and one small electric table saws and three hand-operated brick presses. Two tractors donated by Habitat for Humanity New Zealand move materials to and from the site. Storage capacity is extensive: purchased roof tiles, lumber, 1,500 bags of cement and 70,000 Habitat-made blocks are stored at this Resource Center. Regional Manager Justus Gregory says, “We will never have to slow or stop building because of a materials shortage.” There is even a small canteen at the Center so staff does not have to travel into town for lunch.
Quality Control and Savings
At both sites, staff is paid by the piece for top-quality work only. The cost of damaged goods and other waste is deducted from workers’ pay after inspection of all materials produced each week.
HFHSL pays 2.25 rupees per cement block, 225 rupees per door frame, 500 rupees per door panel, and 850 rupees per window frame to workers. These prices are between 30 and 50% lower than market rate. Donations of materials and negotiating bulk rates provide significant savings as well. For example, Class One timber, which is bathed in an anti-termite solution, is used for the door and window frames; the market rate for the timber is 47 rupees per piece, but Habitat has negotiated a discount price of 35 rupees per piece.
Empty cement bags are saved at both Resource Centers and will be sold for 1-2 rupees apiece to home workers who shred the bags and weave them into shopping bags; HFHSL Batticaloa hopes to sponsor an entire house for a needy family with the cement bag recycling program
Because Habitat Resource Centers are a success on so many levels, HFHSL seeks funding to open centers to support each of our regular affiliates and all of our Disaster Response projects.
Decent Houses for all Sri Lankan Children
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse has declared 2006 “The Year of the Child,” and the constitution of Sri Lanka guarantees all citizens the right to adequate housing. Still, approximately 2 million children on our island live in substandard shelter. Habitat Sri Lanka has submitted a proposal to The Tear Fund for a media campaign advocating for children’s rights to simple, decent housing. We seek to raise awareness of the problem and to make the provision of safe housing for children a matter of conscience for all Sri Lankans.
