Nearly 600 volunteers, including a former U.S. president and first lady, will build 100 homes in the Santo community in Leogane, Haiti, as part of the 29th annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project with Habitat for Humanity.
This will be the second year for the Carter project in Leogane, an unprecedented step that underscores the continuing need for safe housing in Haiti.
Leogane was densely populated before an earthquake hit the area in 2010, said Jonathan Reckford, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. Afterward, it was “shocking” to see that nearly every building experienced some damage, he said.
The situation in Haiti is improving, although not as quickly as some may have hoped. “There’s still a tremendous shortage of housing, and we want to draw awareness to the continuing need,” Reckford said. “One of the challenges is the lack of a good system for property rights and tenure, which creates a disincentive (for private investors) to invest and improve things.”
Reckford said the project, which begins Saturday, will build 100 homes. An additional 50 will be built before Christmas.
Reckford described the Carters, perhaps Habitat’s most famous volunteers, as both “skilled workers.”
“Its really quite amazing that they continue to do this,” he said.
Since the earthquake, Habitat has spent roughly $46.5 million to help more than 40,000 families with emergency shelter kits, structural damage assessments, transitional and upgradable shelters, home repairs and improvements, new home construction, training, and land reform advocacy.
Reckford said the Carter project will soon announce its next location.
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