Foundation to build stilt houses in Cambodia

By Emmanuelle Landaise, staff writer

Dubai: UAE residents will be heading to Cambodia for a three-day self funded initiative to build homes for the underprivileged as part of a housing scheme with charity organisation Tabitha Foundation UK.

The volunteers come from all walks of life but have come together to form a group of ten that will head east to give a helping hand in building ten stilt-houses outside the capital city, Phnom Penh.

"The equipment and tools are already there. The concrete stilts and the frame of the house are up so when we arrive we have to put down the wood flooring and the corrugated iron walls and roof," said Christine Pain, one of the volunteers.

Tabitha Foundation UK was established to support Tabitha Cambodia, a non-profit organisation which has been active in Cambodia since 1994 and helps poor communities by digging water wells, building houses and providing some form of employment by inciting communities to make and sell arts and crafts.

Savings

"At the moment the houses are made of leaves and wood and the people have to rebuild their homes after bad weather or heavy rains. In the scheme, families are encouraged to save as much as they can so they can buy their plot of land," said Pain.

"Around 15 to 20 per cent of the population in Cambodia has been reached by the Tabitha initiatives. It's very far spread. Volunteers build homes or dig wells. In the village we will go to about 45 families live there. We plan to build the homes altogether," she said.

For each home, $860 (Dh3,160) have been raised through fundraising and donations. Karen Allen, another volunteer who works for the Shaikh Mohammad Centre for Cultural Understanding in Dubai said, "We're so lucky here. We have airconditioning and good lifestyles. It's a big thing to be able to go and provide housing for these people, it's part of the basic things everybody should have - food, clothing and shelter," she said.