Volunteer Testimonials

Natalie's story

Hi,

Ok, first I better introduce myself. I’m Natalie. I’ve just turned the big 50, and I’m a Social Planning Consultant from Adelaide. That means, I help people shape their neighbourhoods. That’s how I earn a living, but the way I find joy is by travelling overseas and volunteering to help build houses through Habitat for Humanity.

In the last 6 years I’ve built houses in India and South Africa, and even had the good fortune to work within coo-ee of Brad Pitt in Mumbai as we worked on a mass build led by former US President Jimmy Carter!

My interest in building houses started when I was a child. My parent’s hobby was building houses, so I’ve always felt comfortable being on a building site.

I got interested in Habitat for Humanity because when I looked at what they do I could see everything was based on good community development principles. Habitat sets about helping people to use their resources and take ownership of projects.

Basically, we’re providing opportunities for people in help themselves.

No matter what our qualifications here in Australia, we go in as labourers, not the big white experts with all the answers to everything. So we learn the way they work, how they mix cement, lay bricks, and if we can share some skills, great, but most important is that we work together with respect.

It’s amazing what we can achieve when we work together. I’ve seen houses go from bare foundations to lock-up in 5 days:

Day 1  -	Laid the bricks for the outside walls
Day 2  -	Put up the roof joists
Day 3  -	Tile the roof and build the inside walls with wooden frames and gyprock
Day 4  -	The tradies come through and do all the electrical and plumbing work, while the rest of the team prepare walls for painting, put in skirting and all those bits
Day 5  -	Painting, hang doors, then at 4pm hand over the keys!

My friends ask me what it’s like to go into a place where there’s such poverty.
I have a mix of feelings. When I see families living in poverty, it causes me great distress. In a world as wealthy and resourceful as ours, it’s hard to understand why anyone should have to live in poverty.

But rather than get overwhelmed by sadness, I chose to turn distress to action.

And you can’t help but be inspired when you see the way these people living in poverty are so incredibly resourceful. I’m amazed at how they make do.

I remember a woman I met who only owned one Sari. Yet she was absolutely committed to making sure it was clean. The way she did it was each day she’d unwind half her sari, and wash it while still covered by the other half. She’d sit in the sun until that half of her sari was dry. The next day she’d repeat the process with the other half.

It never ceases to amaze me how families living in the worst slums still take pride in keeping the sub-standard places they have to live spotlessly clean.

And no matter how poor people are they find a way to make you feel welcome. A cup of chai, garlands of flowers...even though people are poor, they stay optimistic.

We don’t know how lucky we are. For me, I’ve always done some kind of voluntary work. Maybe it’s because I feel so fortunate in my own life. I feel like I have a responsibility to give back to others. It’s not about feeling guilt that we are lucky enough to have such a good life here in Australia. It’s more about recognising that we have a responsibility to help each other.

You know, we get bombarded with images of poverty, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed, and wonder what you can do to make a difference.

What I reckon is, you can see poverty on TV and get despondent, or you can take action. That’s what I do through Habitat. It’s hands-on, it’s practical, and it makes such a huge difference in people’s lives.

We’re building more than houses, we’re building hope. And there aren’t too many things in life that can give you more satisfaction than that!

Natalie
28 April, 2007