Young helpinghands for Habitat

MANILA, Philippines - Typical teenagers relish saturdays, barely getting up before noon, lazing around, then hanging out with friends at the mall or partying until the sun comes up.

That’s most teenagers for you. These are, however, the exceptions to the rule.

Habitat for Humanity Philippines (HFHP) is a non-profit organization which aims to build homes for underprivileged families. Together with Habitat, privileged children come together to help these families build homes which can truly be their personal spaces.

The Habitat Youth Council (HYC) is composed of volunteers aged 14 to 21 years old. Whatever the weather, these kids wake up early on Saturdays when they volunteer to help build homes, so unlike the Serena Van Der Woodsens and Blair Waldorfs we’re used to.

Eclipse To Harry

The HYC was founded in June by Alexandra Eduque as the youth ambassador and HYC chairperson, Kay Yang as president, Isabel Martel Francisco as executive vice president, Michaela Eduque as treasurer, and Eugenia Zobel de Ayala as international liaison and communications officer. The officers of the council were formally inducted last August.

The HYC takes on various projects in order to spread the word about Habitat and help the homeowners they are building with. The council initiates creative fundraising activities targeted towards their fellow teenagers. “We had a block screening of Eclipse to help raise funds,” Kay says. “We’re going to have a Harry Potter block premiere screening in November,” she adds.

In addition to the fundraising projects, the HYC conducts workshops for students from different schools to get them interested in HFHP and its endeavours. Different schools and colleges take part in the building activities.

The officers of the HYC also make heavy use of the Internet and social media like Facebook and Twitter to promote the projects of Habitat for Humanity Philippines and encourage their friends to join in the spirit of volunteerism. Their Facebook page has already gained a small following, and they continue to post updates about their activities.

“If you look at my Facebook statuses, it’s all ‘Join Habitat, Join Habitat,’” jokes Isabel. “We try to promote youth involvement in our school, and we also ask our friends to come along,” Michaela adds.

Bayanijuan Spirit

Fernando Zobel de Ayala and daughters Natasha and Sylvia help the youth volunteers plant trees in front of the homes being built in the Habitat For Humanity site in Calauan, Laguna.

Indeed, the HYC came up with a build in line with the World Habitat Day celebration. On October 2, the officers as well as 40 classmates and friends from the International School Manila trooped to the HFHP site in Calauan, Laguna to help plant trees and construct houses. The project, called BayaniJuan sa Southville 7, was also attended by a number of bloggers and Global Village youth volunteers.

“There are several building sites in Calauan, but the site of Habitat Youth Council is different because it’s specific to the involvement of the youth,” says Kay. The volunteers helped out in various tasks like painting houses, producing bricks, sifting sand, mixing cement, and planting trees.

Present at the build was Fernando Zobel de Ayala of the Ayala Group of Companies and his family who joined the volunteers in the tree-planting and house-painting.

“This shows that the youth can help in their own way,” he said of the event. “There are parents here today, but it’s really all about the youth.”

This particular build in Calauan is done in partnership with ABS-CBN Foundation and the Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig project (KBPIP). The KBPIP project aims to clean up the Pasig River. Families who used to live near the polluted Estero de Paco, a creek stemming from the Pasig River, will be relocated to the homes that are being built in Calauan. Incidentally, youth volunteers also helped in removing the garbage in Estero de Paco.

He encourages people to help out with the build project. “We need donors and volunteers. There are many ways of helping the people of Calauan.”

With the support of various organizations, HFHP has constructed 1,000 homes in Site 1, and is building the first 300 homes in Site 2. Part of the success can be attributed to the commitment of the youth volunteers.

“I never thought I’d want to do anything with [Habitat],” says Isabel. “But when I joined my first build, I found it fun and rewarding.”

Her fellow officers feel the same way. “I learned about Habitat through my sister Alex,” shares Michaela. Now, she joins her sister in recruiting more people to get involved.

The girls share that their friends enjoy the experience of volunteering that they keep coming back. “People see what they get out of it,” says Michaela. Some volunteers have birthday builds in lieu of birthday parties just so they have an opportunity to give back to the community.

Truly, the officers and members of the Habitat Youth Council are inspiring examples of how kids can contribute to making a difference in the world and in other people’s lives.

The work is tough, but they find it fulfilling. “We help in building homes and rebuilding lives,” says Kay. How can you argue with that?

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Interested in volunteering? Follow the Habitat For Humanity Philippines Youth Movement on Facebook and Twitter (www.twitter.com/HabitatYouthPh).