Laying foundations of hope in Bangladesh:
Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Build for underprivileged families
More than 30 young Australians donned gloves and tools to assist low income families in rural Bangladesh with building their homes in February this year. Local non-governmental organisation, Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh, along with the Australian Youth Ambassador for Development (AYAD) volunteers helped to build two new homes for two underprivileged local families.
The AYAD volunteers and friends spent two days working alongside the recipient families, the occasion was filled with much lifting, laying, mixing and building. In addition to contributing their labour, the AYAD volunteers fundraised over AUD$5,000 to donate to Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh to allow them to continue this work with more rural Bangladesh families.
Lydia Lao, currently on assignment as an AYAD with Host Organisation Habitat for Humanity (HFH) in Bangladesh, is delighted to be involved in improving locals’ skills and assisting in the development of sustainable outcomes for Habitat for Humanity.
“My assignment at Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh as a Communications Officer is focussed on bringing the skills and experience from working in the same field in Australia to share with my Host Organisation. It's often a two way exchange and learning process between my local counterpart and I as we work together on virtually every project sharing knowledge and skills. At the end of my assignment, I will have hopefully helped both my counterpart and HFH Bangladesh to develop professionally, just as I have developed in many ways from this amazing AYAD experience.”
Habitat for Humanity organises volunteer house builds to provide individuals with the opportunity to make a difference in a very practical way. Recipient homeowner Bellal Hussein was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and hard work of the AYAD volunteers. Bellal’s current home is a single room dwelling made of mud, bamboo and tin. He lives there with his wife and 2 year old daughter. Bellal works as an auto-rickshaw driver earning an income of 6000 taka per month, the equivalent of approximately $AU80. He has been saving for three years to build a Habitat home and now, he has watched his new brick house go up at lightning speed with the help of the volunteers.
”I’m very happy about the volunteers being here. I’m a poor man; their help saves me a lot of money, a lot of time. Without the volunteers the house would have taken a month and a half to build, now with their help, it can be finished in another 10 days. I will always remember them.”
Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dr Justin Lee sees these events as a great initiative by both AYAD volunteers and Habitat for Humanity. Having attended a previous Habitat for Humanity Build himself, he is well aware of the value and impact such initiatives have on both the volunteers and the recipient families.
Dr Lee said, “Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development bring great enthusiasm as well as expertise to Bangladesh. It’s wonderful to see them cooperating with Habitat for Humanity, which works with local communities to provide affordable housing.”
Habitat for Humanity is a global non-profit organisation dedicated to ending substandard housing and homelessness worldwide. Since its founding in 1976, the Habitat for Humanity network has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved some 400,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for an estimated 2 million people.
Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh has been partnering with the AYAD program since 2008, with consecutive AYAD volunteers being placed in the organisation. This “AYAD Build” has been a highly anticipated event by both Habitat and the 27 AYAD volunteers currently residing in Bangladesh.
” I am very impressed with the young Australians who have fundraised and volunteered their time for a Habitat build. Volunteering is a backbone of Habitat for Humanity and these individuals should be proud of their contribution.” – John Armstrong, National Director of Habitat for Humanity Bangladesh.
The Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development (AYAD) Program aims to strengthen mutual understanding between Australia and the countries of Asia, the Pacific and Africa and make a positive contribution to development.
The Program achieves these aims by placing 400 skilled young Australians (18-30) each year on assignment in developing countries in Asia, the Pacific and Africa. AYAD volunteers work with local counterparts in Host Organisations to achieve sustainable development outcomes through capacity building, skills transfer and institutional strengthening.
The AYAD Program is an Australian Government, AusAID initiative and is fully funded by the Australian Government’s international development agency, AusAID.
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