This is Manjula — read her story
Countries where we build
Mainsuba lives in the rural mountains of Nepal. After her husband's death she was battling to raise her daughters. Their only shelter had a roof of bamboo mats that could not keep out the rain, and walls cracked by the 2015 earthquake. Now Mainsuba and her daughters can sleep safe and dry, their new house a base from which to build their lives.
Asililo was widowed in 2012. Since her children too had passed away, she was left to raise her six grandchildren in a tiny thatched hut in rural Zambia. Today, her family lives in a home built for her by her community, facilitated by Hands on Houses and made possible by generosity.
“My big beautiful house.” — Asililo
Manjula was married at 13, and had two children before her husband died of alcoholism. After his death she was ostracized by her community. She and her children had to share a one-room thatched house with her parents, her brother and his family. After receiving a new house, she summed it up: "my days will be better," she told us.
Loyren is raising three daughters in the Philippines — her eldest in high school. In their old decaying shelter of bamboo, privacy meant walking out into the dark. Their new home gives them solid walls, a door that closes, and a bathroom of their own — the kind of small, daily dignity most of us never have to think about. For them, it changes everything.
For almost 20 years, Hands on Houses has been working alongside rural communities. With the support of many generous donors and experienced local community directors, we've been able to provide over 500 houses in eight countries, profoundly changing the lives of vulnerable women and their families.
Don and Margie "retire" and move to India. They start working alongside village community leaders building houses, employing and training local builders, and focussing on serving widows.
Andrew and Karla join the team in India. Every year, more houses are built. New community leaders and villages are reached.
We begin building beyond India, partnering with local leaders in new countries like Zambia, Nepal and the Philippines — continuing to focus on widows and their families.
Together with partners in eight countries, we have completed more than 500 houses — and are working on the next 5000!
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The Equip Foundation
75-5660 Kopiko Street, C7-162
Kailua Kona, HI 96740
+1 (808) 319-3317