India Community Challenge

A communitychallenge provides an exciting opportunity for individuals and teams to travel and work closely with people of another culture and to make a tangible difference in their lives.  Building a home for someone else is a unique experience that opens your eyes to the plight of others who do not have the basic, decent shelter that most of us take for granted. It is a physical and emotional experience, and volunteers often come away knowing a great deal more about themselves than they did beforehand.

All it takes to participate in a communitychallenge is enthusiasm and motivation. No other skills are required, as there will be skilled supervisors on hand to show you what to do. Working in partnership with low-income families to build decent homes, your communitychallenge will help to break the cycle of poverty and hopelessness.

By the end of 2005, more than 1 million people worldwide were living in decent, affordable housing built by schemes such as these. The high cost of housing leaves low-income families little money for basic necessities like food, clothing and health care.

Substandard housing can endanger the health and safety of its occupants, erode their hope and self-worth, and impair their children's ability to succeed in school. Your communitychallenge will play a huge part in eradicating this issue. Families who have neither the capital nor the credit available to buy or rent adequate shelter are forced to live in dwellings that are unable to withstand the annual monsoons, without access to clean water or sanitation systems.

Volunteers will help to build desperately needed decent, safe homes for those affected by poverty housing. Habitat for Humanity are currently working in Bangalore.

community benefits

Volunteering is first and foremost about giving a 'hand up, not a hand out' to those in need. But the benefits to the local communities you work in go far beyond you providing an extra pair of hands.

through your fundraising

• you can raise more for charity than you would be able to give yourself by writing a cheque.
• you will raise awareness of the issues of poverty housing around the world.
• many find your experience directs you or your organisation into new ways of helping others.

by being there

• you will bring hope to a village and a message that the international community cares.
• you will inject energy into a community, boosting morale where it is vitally needed
• you will help to create local employment and support the local economy (by staying in locally owned hotels, eating in local restaurants and employing local people for the programmes).

first hand experience enables you

• to become a 'champion' for the cause.
• to inspire others to go and help.