Meeting the Pierre family.

Rosina Pierre is married and has two children, a son (9) and a daughter (8). For the Pierre’s, a new house means the world to them. "Thank you for this beautiful house," Rosina’s husband told us. "Each day when I go to sleep, I pray to say ‘thank you’ and to think of those who do not have a house such as this."

To support the family, her husband said he works a small agricultural plot nearby. He also told us, “I have nothing to do, no work.” It is not clear if we got the whole story, but it is clear that finding work to support the family is a big challenge for most of the families we met. Providing a home lifts a big burden off of the parents’ shoulders. However, housing alone doesn’t lift a family out of extreme poverty.

	Posing with the Pierre family.

BJ, Food for the Poor’s project manager for the Village of Joy, told us, “It can be hard to get family members to smile for pictures, even after they receive a home. We asked them why. They said they are thankful for the home, but they cannot smile because they are still hungry. In addition to needing homes, recipients need a way to sustain themselves.”

As part of the Village of Joy project, we will be providing families with a sustainability project. Food for the Poor is currently assessing options. They need to take into account people’s interests (not everyone wants to grow crops or fish) and skills (is the equipment bad or do people need training to use it effectively?), as well as physical location and environmental concerns (the soil is too salty for many plants). The sustainment portion of the project will begin after all 40 houses have been funded.

Paula Mueller

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