Opening Remarks from the National Director

Happy New Year 2023, 

Our wish for this new year is that Habitat will continue to transform towards a positive direction in poverty reduction through decent housing.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Jens Reisch, Ms. Wan Tien, one of the board of trustees, the Habitat teams, several volunteers from INSEAD University in Singapore, Thunderbird alumni, USA, and I travelled to Bali to build decent housing in Karangasem. Although Bali is famous as one of the most beautiful tourist destinations which has many unique Balinese houses, hidden away there is Karangasem that apparently has many poorly structured houses and difficulty to obtain clean water because of their high contour location. Currently they are using a pumping machine to get water from the well located next to the seashore around 2-3 kilometres away. 

On January 15, 2023, Bali Build was held. I participated in building 1 out of 2 houses. I felt so happy to be involved directly in Bali. I saw the happiness and enthusiasm on the volunteer’s face. They were willing to give out their time, energy, and even money to support the low-income families in Karangasem to get decent housing.

This Bali build was a pilot project. We plan to do another build with more number of houses this coming April or May 2023. Before the Bali Build activity, we will be holding a Habitat Charity Golf Tournament next February. With open arms, I invite everyone to join our mission. Please contact Endah by email [email protected] or Cila at (0821)2592-0054 for further information . 

Through this opportunity, I also would like to wish Happy Lunar New Year to those who celebrate it. May we celebrate the beginning of lunar year with joy and new hope. Habitat does this by providing decent houses to people in needs as well as giving ‘new hope’ to families so that they can grow healthier and with dignity.  

Best Regards,

Susanto