ARTICLE - CARTER - HABITAT IN HAITI

FORMER PRESIDENT CARTER COMES TO HELP BUILD HOUSES
(Haiti Libre) -

Former President Jimmy Carter (Nobel Peace) arrived Sunday in Port-au-Prince to participate in the completion of the construction of 100 houses (permanent). "I came with 500 volunteers of my country to complete the construction of 100 houses in Leogane with Habitat for Humanity," said Mr. Carter at the residence of the Ambassador of the United States Kenneth Merten.

Jimmy Carter comes also supporting a national campaign against lymphatic filariasis in Haiti and will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, President Michel Martelly at the National Palace.

Delta has donated two charter flights, a Boeing 767 and a Boeing 757, to transport the volunteers, a group that includes 11 Delta employees, who will donate their personal vacation time to be part of the efforts. "Delta people put a high value on supporting the communities where we live and work," said Scarlet Pressley-Brown, Delta Air Line's director of external affairs and community relations. "Our employees have a long history with Habitat and their involvement in this project is a testament to the commitment the Delta team has for serving others."

Habitat's 2011 Carter Work Project will bring together 500 volunteers to build 100 core houses during the week. The build will take place in the Santo community of Leogane where Habitat will build a total of 150 houses this year with families currently living in tents and other temporary structures. Another 100 houses are planned for 2012.

Habitat's Carter Work Project is the culmination of a month-long observance of the need for safe, decent and affordable shelter that began on World Habitat Day, Monday, Oct. 3, 2011. The Carters are Habitat for Humanity's most famous volunteers and give a week of their time each year to help Habitat build, renovate or repair homes, and raise awareness about the need for affordable and decent housing. They joined Habitat for Humanity in 1984 to help renovate a decaying building in New York City's Lower East Side. Today, the building is part of a thriving, reinvigorated and dynamic community. Since that first build, the Carters and thousands of volunteers have worked with Habitat for Humanity across the United States and in Mexico, Canada, Hungary, South Africa, South Korea, India, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, China, Laos and Vietnam.