How to participate in Habitat for Humanity
It made me
feel empowered 
"Most satisfying thing I've done so far."
How I did it:
I got interested when I interviewed a Habitat volunteer who flew in from Boston to do her internship in Asia. Two more interviews later, I signed up for a build and haven't looked back since.
Currently, I'm helping with the local affiliate's blog and online stuff. And rallying friends to join me on builds. We need more local people looking out for our neighbours.
My little gang build on Sundays. A friend said it's like a mini holiday away from real life. And she's right! You're so far away from your computer and your malls, and probably too occupied to think about work.
If you're interested in helping build a house in Kuching, you can reach us at info.kuching[AT]hfhmalaysia.org.
Lessons & tips:
- You definitely have to want to try something new. You couldn't have gotten me interested last year because I was busy being self-absorbed.
- Having said the above, take a chance. You never know if this is the one thing that might change how you look at life. If this is not your cup of tea, at least you ruled it out for sure!
- Building a house may sound daunting if you never had to do any hard physical labour. But it's not as bad as you imagine. If you are capable of playing hard at the beach on a sunny day, you can certainly do this.
- A build is a great way of spending time with friends. Gather a few buddies and go do some good. It beats frittering a few hours away at Starbucks.
- Observe your local weather. Sunscreen and hats, if you're in my neck of the woods. And plenty of drinking water.
- Depending on how far your site is from civilisation, you might wanna just pack lunch to save yourself the trip.
Resources:
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