Global Build at a Glance

Location: Bhaleswa, Delhi
Dates: 28 September – 6 October 2008

Total houses (GlobalBuild): 25

Design: A one storey house, two rooms, kitchen and toilet with concrete columns and concrete roof
Materials: Bricks, cement, steel rods, concrete cast roof

Volunteers: 150 (International and national)
Project Partner: Chethanalaya

The Project:

The people of Bhaleswa live a dehumanized existence. The resettlement colony came into existence in 1999. Some 5,000 households from other slums were shifted during then. But now, due to further relocation of more slums in Delhi, the number of families have doubled to 10,000 settlements in the area. Insufficient food and lack of potable water is a common and daily experience of the majority. Many people, especially the children and women, suffer from water borne diseases. The lack of proper and adequate shelter, electricity, proper drainage infrastructure, sanitary facilities (poorly maintained community toilets used on a payment basis) and access to healthcare facilities, opportunities to education etc. are some of the major problems that have pushed these families to the fringes and have rendered their lives devoid of dignity and value.

These families of Bhaleswa are migrants from different states of the country. They were resettled in Bhaleswa where even the basic minimum facilities like water, electricity, health care etc. are denied. People still live in make shift houses exposed to the fury of extreme heat during summers and numbing chill during winters.

Situated at Northeast of Delhi by the National Highway between Delhi and Haryana, some 25 Kms from Central Delhi is a home for ten thousand poor families resettled at an open stretch of barren land in temporary houses. These families were leased out a plot of land measuring 15x10 feet or 22x10 feet on a down payment of Rs. 7,000. The civic amenities are basic or substandard.

Partnerships:

The project will be implemented in partnership by the three agencies, namely, Habitat for Humanity India, South Indian Bank New Delhi and Chetanalaya. Two thirds of the total cost will be provided on the basis of loan by South Indian Bank, New Delhi, and one third of the cost by Habitat Humanity International wherein Chetanalaya will act as the implementing and monitoring agency. The cost of the houses will be issued as an interest free loan to the home partners (beneficiaries) and the repayment recovered will go into a pool of revolving fund for construction of further houses.

• Chetanalaya (‘House of awareness’), a social work wing of Catholic Diocese of Delhi, is a registered NGO involved in the upliftment of the weaker section. It has been working in more than 12 slums and resettlement colonies of Delhi and villages of Haryana during the past 35 years with an array of interventions for prevention of child labour, prevention of human trafficking, education of the marginalized, community health, SHGs & micro finance, housing for the poor slum dwellers etc. Chetanalaya proposes to build low cost houses for the families through the self help groups which are animated by it. The estimated cost of individual house is Rs. 70,000 and the project envisages to build 100 houses in the first phase of one years’ time. Later, another 400 more houses will be built in the later .

• Habitat for Humanity India launched the IndiaBUILDS campaign along with the prestigious Jimmy Carter Work Project 2006. IndiaBUILDS is a five year national campaign to shelter and provide stability to 50,000 families thereby improving the quality of life of over 250,000 people. The campaign aims to raise US$100 Million to provide for decent, affordable shelters to 50,000 families that would also result in a US$50 Million revolving fund that would go on to build several thousand homes after the campaign ends. The campaign also seeks to inspire over a million volunteers to affect perceptions and attitudes, draw in resources and sustain partnerships in its Herculean efforts to realize this end.