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BISS students help renovate home
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Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization set up in 1976 to help eliminate substandard housing. To do this, they follow “a hand up, not a hand out” policy, wherein volunteers help renovate and rebuild homes.
In Shanghai, Habitat for Humanity has launched the “Shanghai Age-Friendly Housing Project” in partnership with the Shanghai Senior Citizen’s Foundation and Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau.
Their work involves renovating homes for low-income seniors, with a focus on incorporating safety equipment and making their daily lives more accessible.
On November 30, six IB students from the Pudong Campus of the British International School — Andrea, Christian, Dyanna, Emilia, Isaac and Siri — volunteered at one of their projects in Minhang District.
The elderly man who owns the apartment has lived there for 40 years, the past three years alone. The home was in desperate need of repainting, re-flooring, tiling in the kitchen and bathroom as well as rewiring electrical plugs.
Our job was to repaint the walls as well as the windows and doors. Together with three SAS Pudong students, we spent the day painting two full coats. It turned out very well and we were all taken by surprise at what a huge impact something so small and simple had on the apartment. It automatically looked a lot more inviting and welcoming.
During the next few weeks, professionals will be working to complete the tasks requiring more skilled labor, such as changing the flooring and tiling.
Prior to the job, we held several fundraisers to raise money to purchase the required materials. This included a bake sale at the Christmas bazaar, sweet sales during lunchtimes and a competition to guess the number of jellybeans in the jar.
Since it was founded, Habitat for Humanity has improved over 500,000 homes, thus improving an average of over 2.5 million people’s living standards. Around 10,000 individuals worldwide volunteer with the building work, and it was an extremely valuable experience to be a part of this amazing organization.
(Emilia Lindquist, Year 12, British International School Shanghai, Pudong)
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