                                ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996               TAG: 9601300039
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-17 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE

POWER OF GRASS-ROOTS PROGRAMS

As a former Habitat for Humanity volunteer in the United States, I marveled how effective such grass-roots programs can be once they take hold in a community. And, after mixing rocks, water and powdered cement shovel by back-breaking shovel, I have a new-found respect for cement-mixing trucks! Odilon Perez, director of the warehouse in the small village of La Flor, said Habitat originally came to the town to design and help build the concrete, 138-square-foot homes. Families paid a 6,500 peso deposit (about $1,000) for a home, then donate time and supplies to build their home and additional homes, which keeps the building cycle going. Several years and 3,500 homes later, communities in the valley have taken over the project, replacing leaky huts with solid, dry homes that usually house a family of eight.

LENGTH: Short :   25 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  EILEEN MOCCIA. color.

by CNB