On August 24, 2013, "Japan Hope Builders (JHB)", in collaboration with H.I.S, one of the major Japanese travel agencies, completed building a house in Cambodia. The team had 13 volunteers of all ages including a passionate high school student. Each volunteer had various motivation to join the team but all came all the way from Japan with their goodwill; do for other's sake, and help families in need.
The work site was the city of Battambang, Cambodian second largest city, about three hours by car from the famous Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. This work site has a lot of families who are illegally occupying the state-owned land caused by the lack of living places. To cope with this situation, Habitat Cambodia is working on a project in cooperation with the Government of Cambodia and the World Bank for town planning of these areas and land owners to secure their land. During this trip, JHB team built a house for Pov Huch Family who started a new life on this project.
The monthly income of the Poy Huch is about 15,000 Japanese yen. The couple earns a living by selling bananas, glutinous rice and drinking water on their wheelbarrow on the streets. However, Eng Yung, father, is 74 with a lot of young children, and he wished to own a more decent and safer house for his family's better future. Before building a new house, he owned a house which was made of metal plates and there was always draft coming in. They were also dealing with a bare dirt floor. In need of a better house, the family has saved money little by little.
During their volunteer visit, JHB team built a bedroom and a mortar floor. First, they started to smooth the ground and cover it with gravel. Then it was grinded and compressed to make a solid foundation.
The next step was to mix mortar. It is a hard work to mix mortar. Volunteers broke their back to mix cement, water and sand and spread it on the compressed ground to make more solid foundation. While working hard, volunteers were singing happy songs and kept communicating to build friendship.
JHB team completed their tasks; making a foundation and building a bedroom in three days, building corner by corner each day. During their free time, not only the daughters and grandchildren of the Poy Huch but also many neighbor children came and play with JTB volunteers. They played with balls or caught frogs. The neighbors also let them in to take some rest.
On the last day, the team had a farewell party with the family and dedicated a key to them. The mayor of the village and a monk also attended the dedication. All volunteers shared a joy with the family. Poy Huch family returned many thanks to the team. "My husband is old and getting hard to pull a wheelbarrow. Now we are planning to open a small shop in front of our house," said Mrs. Poy Huch. Volunteers said, "I truly understood people can communicate each other across a language barrier," "I want to share this experience with my friends in Japan and hope to join Habitat volunteer again," "I will never forget this visit and what I got from here," and "I do hope the Poy Huch can start a happier life at this house." After those messages being shared, the team performed Y.M.C.A. song. During their performance, children also joined the team to dance the dedication ended on a high note.
Thanks to JHB team, Habitat for Humanity was able to support the Poy Huch this summer. Habitat Japan is going to continuously support those Cambodian families in need.
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