By Kaitlyn Farrance
The Building of a Home
Public infrastructure such as hospitals, schools and roads are crucial to any community, yet nothing is as intimate as our home. Home is the place where we spend time with loved ones, learn about life, eat, sleep and take refuge from the elements. For so many in rural parts of our world, housing is made from whatever can be found and is
affordable. For years, the best strategy was to build better infrastructure after a disaster.
Why not build better now?
In 2022, The World Bank reported over 1 billion people lacked proper housing. The International Human Rights Law defines adequate housing in areas of:
· Security of tenure
· Availability of services
· Affordability
· Habitability
· Accessibility
· Cultural adequacy
Individuals living in poverty or those facing discrimination are the most at risk. Common areas of discrimination include, gender, sex, age, religion, disability or ethnic background. If this wasn’t enough, they are also more at risk to climate events and international crises.
The Gorkha earthquake hit central Nepal in 2015 killing 9,000 people. The aftermath of the earthquake left hundreds of thousands of people homeless. Building better infrastructure after a disaster is necessary. But at a certain point we have to ask ourselves. If better infrastructure can save lives and limit disaster; why not build better at the start?
Housing is Public Health and Education Infrastructure
Bad housing profoundly effects the everyday lives of many people. Inadequate housing correlates with:
· Poorer physical and mental health
· Inferior education for children
· Lifetime impaired earnings and job opportunities
The Global Program for Resilient Housing invested in concrete floors in rural Mexico. Results of the program brought better physical and mental health to everyone involved. Results of the program concluded:
· 52% decrease in rates of depression
· 78% decrease in parasitic infections
· 69% increase in rate of life satisfaction.
India has the highest population on earth with
70% of its population living in villages. Many of these
villages only have natural materials that won’t last.
Housing is Social Justice Infrastructure
Refugees, single mothers and victims of gender-based violence are seeking asylum from crisis. Urmila Pawar, a woman who lived in Maharashtra, describes what her home looked like growing up.
“Both of them (Urmila’s mother and father) saved bit by bit and built a small house with two small rooms and a tiled roof. The outer one served as a hall and the inner room was a kitchen. Later on, Baba (Urmila’s father) constructed a verandah… The verandah had a tin roof. He made the floor with soil beaten hard; it was polished smooth with dung.” – The Weave of My Life, Ch 1. Pawar
Urmila lived in a simple kachha home built with an unbaked clay roof and soil flooring. Tilled roofing of these kind need repairs every year when the harvest season is over. If not properly repaired, they risk the odds of the roof falling through. Urmila describes her flooring as beaten soil polished with dung. Not only is this a sanitation concern, but in some climates they risk parasite infection. In tropical climates tungiasis infection is common in floors that aren’t sealed properly. Tungiasis itself is not known to be deadly. Bacteria complications such as tetanus and gangrene are common and can be fatal. This is especially true in communities without local hospitals.
Housing is Economic and Community Development Infrastructure
Where we live is much more than an address, its where we’re from. Home is where families develop, keep a job, and generally have stability. When communities have
limited options, a vicious cycle of poverty reins.
Housing is Life Saving Infrastructure
An estimated 1.3 billion people experience a significant disability. Tragically, the mortality rate can be up to 20 years earlier than those without a disability. Infrastructure accommodating disabilities can be a challenge for many communities. It cannot happen without one step at a time. Homes need to be the first place where the differently abled can live their lives. New plumbing could mean new independence and a restoration of dignity.
High Risk Areas in Rural India
It can be difficult to identify who will best benefit with housing assistance. India has the highest population on earth with 70% of its population living in villages. Many of these villages are using natural materials that aren’t meant to last. Kairos Global Foundation partners with those who are on the field. From the grassroot level, we can identify who will benefit from our assistance most.
We live in a world where hurricanes, earthquakes and monsoons take many lives each year. If homes were more resilient for the climate they were made for, more people
would thrive. Home is where all our efforts to build a better world start. We can invest in a better future where adequate shelter is a human right. Let’s build better, one house at a time.