Year 4, Volume 2: Editorial

In Latin America and the Caribbean 26 million homes do not provide basic shelter for the families who live there. In addition 28 million more homes are needed to eliminate the slums and inferior conditions in which families live.

Changing policies and creating partnerships to support a sustainable livelihood for families in need was the central theme of the Habitat for Humanity 2007 Leader’s Conference. The lush, green mountains of Heredia provided a quiet, secluded setting for the conference hosted by Habitat for Humanity’s Area Office based in Costa Rica. Several workshops dedicated to various facets of the theme were presented during the seven conference days.

It was my pleasure to be able to take part in the conference along with members of Latin American and Caribbean National Organizations, the Latin America and the Caribbean Area Office, and members of the Habitat International staff who came from their new offices in Atlanta, Georgia. We were gathered for the same purpose: to act as mentors for those people who need a voice, to learn more about what other countries are doing on a local level and to make plans for the future using the knowledge gained through our interaction.

Workshops included Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Housing and Human Settlement, Sustainability: a model of institutional development and Housing Development. The guest speaker, Graciela Landaeta PhD, professor of Housing Development and Management in Sweden shared her studies of low income housing in her native Bolivia and other parts of Latin America. Dr. Landaeta shared examples of success and failures of housing programs around the continent emphasizing the importance of addressing the needs of partner families as the first step in a sustainable solution.

The importance of transforming structures and processes both in the way Habitat reaches out to the individual families and how we influence the policies made today in each country was impressed upon us time and time again. Finally the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Torre Nelson called us to action with these instructions: start with the family’s needs, develop products that respond to those needs, form alliances with other organizations that create holistic changes in the lives of the families, and finally, balance building homes with advocacy for those who we serve, those who have no voice.

We have learned in Habitat for Humanity Argentina, that we can make a difference in people’s t lives. We do that every day. We also know that there is a great deal left to do. We need others to join us by being volunteers, donating time, money or experience so that more families in Argentina and the world can look forward to a better future.

Patricia Caviezel

Vice President (October 2005/2007)