, senior vice president, development, Habitat for Humanity, the international non-government organisation that builds affordable houses for the deprived, is putting a lot of stress on India. Crozet joined Habitat for Humanity in 2003 as director, resource development and communications for Africa and the Middle East, based in South Africa. He took on the role of senior vice-president in April this year.
In an interview with Business Standard, Crozet talks about the tremendous response Habitat for Humanity International has been getting in India and the NGO's plans for the country.
Despite your statement that Habitat for Humanity has received a good response in India, it is not very high profile. What is your comment on this?
Although Habitat for Humanity has been building houses since 1983, we were noticed for our work during the tsunami that rocked South Asia last Christmas. Habitat volunteers, along with villagers, repaired and renovated more than 600 houses in four districts in southern India after the tsunami.
Since then we have been approached by NGOs, state governments and communities. I must admit of all the countries we are working in, we have got the best response in India. This year, Habitat for Humanity plans to raise 1,000 houses for the poor. Our target is to build 50,000 houses across the country.
How do you identify the marginalised families for which you build houses?
We approach communities of marginalised families and work closely with NGOs such as SOS Children Villages and World Vision, apart from local NGOs.
Communities also approach us seperately. The financial criterion is the families we build houses for have a monthly income of less than Rs 2,500. As of now, most of our activities are in southern India "" all 20 of our active sites are there. But we do plan to extend to other parts of the nation.
Has Habitat for Humanity been raising funds in India for its India projects?
So far, all the funding for India (over $5 million), has come from North America. But we are talking to multinationals like Whirpool and Indian corporate houses like Sahara and Tata groups for donations as well. We now have active plans to raise funds within India.
How is Habitat for Humanity raising awareness about its works?
We are participating in the Jimmy Carter Project in October 2006, which we are already campaigning for.
As part of that project we will build 100 houses in a week on the outskirts of Mumbai. We are buying land for that. The Jimmy Carter Project is involved in development issues for the poor the world over and India has been chosen for the project for the year 2006.
Habitat for Humanity, which has so far built 2,00,000 houses the world over has recently, with the help of volunteers from India and six other countries, dedicated its 2,00,001st house to Kuttapaly village in Tamil Nadu.
This was one of the worst affected villages during the tsunami and Habitat volunteers renovated 115 houses in the village. Habitat renovates one house every 24 minutes somewhere or the other in the world.
Why do you think India is one of the best suited countries for Habitat's works?
According to government figures, only 36 per cent of households in rural India live in pucca structures, around 21 percent live in huts made of thatch and scrap materials. Only 15 per cent of rural dwellings have drinking water, electricity and other basic facilities. These figures suggest Habitat can do a lot in India.
So is Habitat for Humanity raising houses in other parts of the sub-continent too?
Well, we are present in Bangladesh but not Pakistan, since Pakistan has never invited us.
