Selecting India for Habitat for Humanity was a natural for President Carter, whose mother Lillian Carter, known and beloved by many, joined the Peace Corps when she was 67 and traveled to India to work with the people there. In her own words, Miss Lillian was just taking the Corps advertising campaign at face value – “age is no barrier.”



Selecting India for Habitat for Humanity was a natural for President Carter, whose mother Lillian Carter, known and beloved by many, joined the Peace Corps when she was 67 and traveled to India to work with the people there. In her own words, Miss Lillian was just taking the Corps advertising campaign at face value – “age is no barrier.”

India selected to host Jimmy Carter Work Project 2006

AMERICUS, Ga. (Feb. 22, 2005) – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Paul Leonard, Habitat for Humanity International chief executive officer, announced today that they will travel to India in October 2006 to join volunteers from around the world to help build houses with families in need during the 23rd annual project named in the former president’s honor.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate, along with his wife Rosalynn and Habitat for Humanity staff and volunteers will help build homes in partnership with local families in need in Mumbai (Bombay).

Habitat for Humanity has been working in India since 1983 and to date has built more than 10,280 homes. This will be the third Jimmy Carter Work Project in Habitat’s Asia-Pacific region: Projects were staged in the Philippines in 1999 and South Korea in 2001.

“Rosalynn and I have enjoyed working with Habitat for Humanity for more than two decades,” said President Carter. “We look forward to going to India to build houses with families in need.”

Currently, Habitat is continuing to work in India in the wake of the tragic Dec. 26 tsunami that struck many countries in the Indian Ocean basin. Habitat for Humanity India is focusing on the hard-hit coastal areas of Tamil Nadu state, south of the state capital of Chennai, where an estimated 10,000 people were killed by the tsunami. President Carter will visit the community during the 2006 work project.

HFH India is working with the Discipleship Center, an established partner that has a substantial relief effort under way in the Chennai area. Plans are to under way to provide transitional housing for up to 6,000 families in the first building phase, and disaster response technical centers – where families will be taught skills to help them build their homes and to produce construction materials such as block and tile – will be located in Pondicherry, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore and Kanyakumari, possibly based out of current Discipleship Center distribution centers. Each center would support up to 1,000 families.

Since the first Jimmy Carter Work Project in New York City in 1984, President Carter has been drawn to Habitat for Humanity’s efforts to bring hope to people and areas others have abandoned. In 2004, the Carters worked with volunteers to build 150 homes in Puebla and Veracruz, Mexico, and this year the couple will lead Michigan in a statewide effort to build 230 homes.

Selecting India was a natural for President Carter, whose mother Lillian Carter, known and beloved by many, joined the Peace Corps when she was 67 and traveled to India to work with the people there. In her own words, Miss Lillian was just taking the Corps advertising campaign at face value – “age is no barrier.”

Then, in 1978, during his presidency, Mr. Carter traveled to a small village, Chuma Kheragaon, in the Haryana area of India. So impressed and pleased were the villagers at the president’s and first lady’s visit, they rechristened the village Carterpuri, in his honor. To this day, the villagers celebrate Jan. 3, the day of his visit, every year.

“Habitat has had great success with our program in India,” said Leonard, “and we are honored to be able to help in the aftermath of the terrible toll of the tsunami. As we have said so many times, the need there – as with everywhere – is so great, that the response must be long term.

“Having the Jimmy Carter Work Project in India in 2006 will mean new homes for families, but just as important, it will increase awareness and support for Habitat’s work in India and elsewhere and will encourage people, the religious community, industry and the government to come together to address the problem of poverty housing.

“India’s need is great, and this project will not resolve that; but it will be another step in our long but determined journey to erase poverty housing from the face of the earth.”

President Carter’s longstanding relationship with Habitat for Humanity began in 1984, when he donated one day of his carpentry skills and manual labor at a work site in Americus, Ga., home to Habitat’s international headquarters. Later that same year, the Carters led their first weeklong work project, renovating a six-story, 19-unit building in New York City. The Carters have personally worked on Habitat homes that house more than 10,000 people around the world.

About Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity International, based in Americus, Ga., is an ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. By the end of 2005, Habitat will have built its 200,000th house and more than one million people will be living in Habitat homes they helped build. www.habitat.org

When this story was posted in March 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter.

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Add your info now to the RPCV Directory Call Harris Publishing at 800-414-4608 right away to add your name or make changes to your listing in the newest edition of the NPCA's Directory of Peace Corps Volunteers and Former Staff. Then read our story on how you can get access to the book after it is published. The deadline for inclusion is May 16 so call now.

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March 12, 2005: This Week's Top Stories The Coyne Column: Read Winning Essay by PCV 12 Mar Laura Germino helps Migrant Workers Advocacy Group 12 Mar Sam Farr impresses medical-pot advocacy group 11 Mar Fred O'Regan writes Op-Ed on Canada seal hunt 11 Mar Fern Holland remembered In Oklahoma 10 Mar Mountaineer Charles Houston receives honorary degree 10 Mar Elaine Chao led delegation for President's inauguration 10 Mar Chris Dodd wins Hispanic Capital Award 9 Mar Pat Waak is new Colorado Democratic Party Chair 9 Mar Chris Matthews withdraws from Florida Event 9 Mar Timothy J. O'Brien returns to Korea 8 Mar Tomas Belsky's paintings inspired by service in Brazil 7 Mar Christopher Hill to be Assistant Secretary of State 7 Mar Allen Moore is Sen Frist's Deputy Chief of Staff 7 Mar Jim Doyle heads trade delegation to Mexico 5 Mar Al Kamen says Narcissus Is Now Greek AND Roman 4 Mar Diana Gomez says to do something about Peace 4 Mar

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March 12, 2005: RPCV Groups in the News San Diego RPCVs host reception with Gaddi Vasquez on March 6 4 Mar Alaska RPCVs speak for dividend 4 Mar Western North Carolina's RPCVs sponsor Africa Night on March 6 3 Mar Maryland RPCVs lobby their Senators for Peace Corps 3 Mar Connecticut RPCVs hold fundraiser on March 5 3 Mar Charles Baquet speaks at Louisiana PC Breakfast on March 4 28 Feb RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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March 1: National Day of Action Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went.

Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.

Peace Corps Calendar: Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.

WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.

Read the stories and leave your comments.