Year 4, Volume 1: Editorial

A whole section of this edition of our newsletter is dedicated to statistical information concerning the housing problem in Argentina. The mere magnitude of these numbers is impressive but these are not just cold, hard statistics. They represent the millions of people who do not have adequate housing in this country.

We in Habitat for Humanity Argentina (HFHA) understand that the value of a house cannot be measured by its four walls alone. It’s much more than that. By means of our work we expect that a house will provide a family with:

• Security and stability
• A sense of family, community and solidarity
• Space where children can grow up healthy and where learning takes place
• A sense of achievement and personal satisfaction
• An important step out of poverty toward a better future

To achieve this, HFHA wishes to build hope, responsibility, solidarity, love, and stimulate faith in action by empowering families, communities and society.

The continuous follow up, educational guide and support that HFHA gives families before, during and after the construction of new homes is one of the factors that ensures the success of our program. This, which we call “More than Houses¨, is the key to a sustainable solution that provides a transformation of the families by improving their quality of life. In the interview with María Celina Malvazo, National Community Development Coordinator for HFHA, we invite you to explore this theme.

Ana Cutts

National Director

National Office - HFHA

Year 3, Volume 3: Editorial

A new year is beginning, and with it the evaluation of last year’s activities and achievements, and laying out new plans and objectives.

In 2006 our goal was to increase Committed Participation. We sought to encourage volunteers from different parts of society and from around the globe to join and support our mission. We achieved an important increase in the number of volunteers and Work Teams working with us in our National and Local Offices, and at our construction sites in Luján, Santa Fe and Cañada de Gómez. Local Work Teams, long and short term volunteers, Global Village Teams, and national and international events all provided a means for mobilizing people from different cultures, religious backgrounds, professions and nationalities willing to lend a helping hand to those in need.

This increase in participation generated an increase in the number of housing solutions offered. This year 24 families were able to work on the construction or renovation of their houses, and celebrate Christmas and the New Year in their new homes!

Our challenge for 2007 is Growth: to increase the number of families we are able to assist in overcoming poverty. Our aim is to serve 91 families during the year. The challenge is considerable… but the organization is prepared! With each passing day we realize that we are able to make a difference “house by house, family by family,” transforming lives. We thank you for your support, and invite you to continue accompanying us throughout 2007!

Ana Cutts

National Director Nacional

Year 3, Volume 2: Editorial

Volunteers are so very important to Habitat for Humanity Argentina’s mission! They add to our daily tasks with their enthusiasm, commitment, interest and hard work, and bring alive our “More than Houses” programme. As we reach out to families in need of walls and roofs we also pray that we are bringing them hope and a chance to improve their lives in every aspect.

This Newsletter is a special recognition to all those volunteers who have and are helping Habitat for Humanity Argentina in so many different ways… and particularly to those silent, “unsung volunteers” who help regularly with routine office work or in their professional capacity.

We thank God for the help of all our volunteers and pray that He will bless each and every one of them.

Ana Cutts

National Director

Year 2, Volume 2: Editorial

Since biblical times, God has blessed his people by giving them lands where they can work and live, “a land that flows with milk and honey”.

Argentines live in a spacious, fruitful and rich land, enjoying the diversity given by the glaciers in the South, the red lands in the North, the fruitful pampas in the centre: from the Rio de la Plata at sea level, to the grandeur of the Andes mountains. What more could we ask for?

But we need so much! Organizations such as ours, working to provide suitable housing for every needy Argentine family, are finding it very difficult to purchase land legally. When we launch a new project and seek to select families who will benefit from our programs, we discover anew that those who today live in unacceptable conditions do not possess land that can be mortgaged in order to back the loan which our organization gives them when we help them build a new home.

We therefore launched a new initiative entitled “Lands: Obstacles or Opportunities?”

We try to economize by building four houses on one plot but the efforts to reduce the cost are far less than the problems we have in acquiring land legally! Much of the land in the poorer, rural areas was bought and sold without any legal contracts or title deeds. As a result it is much more difficult today to acquire the land legally. For example, the municipality of Lujan put an ad in the paper asking for legalized land to enable it to carry out its social housing programme!

We thank God, however, that we have been able to overcome these obstacles in obtaining land in Santa Fe Province in Recreo and Cañada de Gómez; and in the Open Door area in the province of Buenos Aires. Today we are pleased to be able to offer the opportunity to build their own house to families who had never dreamed of joining a program of housing such as the one we offer in Habitat for Humanity! We know, however, that we must continue to strive, together with other housing organizations to seek the co-operation of the Government in simplifying procedures for buying and legalizing land in the poorer areas.

Ana Cutts

National Director

Habitat for Humanity Argentina