Easter House 2015 – Help the Dumse family!

Try and picture in your head: an old adobe house with a dirt trodden floor where chickens are pecking around for crumbs that fall from their table. An old bed that is a bundle of straw covered in a mouse nibbled sponge sheet instead of a mattress. Doors and windows doing more to keep out the animals, rather than the wind and cold of a winter’s day.

Elisabeta Dumse, her husband Dorin and their twin sons Andrei and Dorel feel the cold winters even before going outside.

Elisabeta grew up in an orphanage after being abandoned at birth. Beaten and abused, life has never been easy. Leaving the orphanage at 18 years old, she spent some time on the streets before meeting a young family who took care of her and helped her find a job.

With a little money carefully put aside, they have managed to buy some construction materials. With the help of the local church and some good willed people, they have also been able to pour a foundation on which they tried to build.  However due to a lack of money they were unable to make much progress.

Hearing about Habitat’s work on the Radio, Elisabeta immediately thought that they could maybe benefit from Habitat’s help. So with courage she applied at the Habitat office.

Habitat for Humanity Beius recently selected the Dumse family to be the beneficiaries of the Easter House 2015 and now Elisabeta is looking forward to seeing her lifelong dream being fulfilled: to have a good home where she can offer her children a decent live, like the one she never had.

Since 2000, Habitat for Humanity Beius has annually been helping at least one needy family to live in safe, healthy and decent conditions in time for Easter. Romanian and international volunteers build together with the home beneficiaries up until Easter week when the home is inaugurated on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday.

How can you help?

There are various ways in which you can get involved with the Easter House Project, here are just a few of them:

–    Donate money, materials or tools towards this annual successful project.

–    Promote the Easter House event amongst your friends and ask them to get involved as well.

–    Write about this project on your website, on your blog, post on your social networks (facebook, twitter etc). Share this post.

–    Pray for the success of the event and for the future of Elisabeta, Dorin, Andrei and Dorel

–    Contact us at doneaza@habitatbeius.ro and let’s talk about how you can get involved!

 

 

About Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity Beius is a non-profit, Christian organization that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action worldwide.

Founded in 1996, HFH Beius became the first Habitat affiliate in Romania, and has since helped over 300 families from all over the Bihor region to live in a simple, decent and affordable house.

How does it work?

HFH Beius renovates and builds homes in collaboration with partner families and international and local volunteer labour. Homes are then sold to partner families at no profit, and are financed with affordable, no-interest loans.

HFH Beius is a hand UP, not a hand out. Partner families (families that are selected to collaborate with HFH Beius to build a home) pay back the home mortgage over 20 years and invest up to 1000 hours of sweat equity labour on their home and other Habitat homes.

What does a Habitat house cost?

While the design for HFH Beius homes has varied over the years, the latest models average around 15,000 EUR (18,000 USD). Meanwhile average homes in Beius cost around 35,000 EUR and so it’s easy to see that Habitat is a good alternative.

How are partner families selected?

Families in need of decent shelter apply to HFH Beius. The family selection committee then chooses homeowners based on their level of need, their willingness to become partners in the program, and their ability to repay the non-profit loan. HFH Beius follows a non-discriminatory policy of family selection: neither race nor religion is a factor in choosing the families whom receive homes.