Heading in the Wrong Direction

Unlike Gerneral William Tecumseh Sherman's 'March to the Sea' in 1864, Tim and I are headed in the opposite direction north to Atlanta.  Why you might ask?  Why leave sunny Florida to trek into the arctic north?  The answer is I have surgery scheduled at Johns Hopkins Medical Center for the end of March.  I've decided I need a cochlear implant in my right ear to match the one in my left.  So we set sail in the Dawntreader, our RV, bound for Atlanta.

But first, we stopped in Americus, Georgia, where the headquarters of Habitat for Humanity is.  We wanted to see the Global Village that Habitat has built there to draw attention to their work in over 40 countries around the world.

We watched an introductory video that highlighted the abysmal living conditions of the poor globally.

Sri Lanka

One in every five people in the world today lives in absolute poverty.  

Cairo

More than 1 billion people worldwide live in slum housing.  

Bangladesh

Nearly 3 billion people--close to half of the world's population--live on less than $2 per day.  Seems to me, those statistics are a call to action.

Leaving the Discovery Center, we walked initially through a narrow alley of ramshackle dwellings that might be found in many urban slums.

It was a relief to emerge on the walkway where stand replicas of homes Habitat builds in representative countries.  

Guatemala

Haiti

Kenya

Sri Lanka

Every house was distinctive.  That's because Habitat uses readily available local materials found in the country where they work.

Although it wasn't in use the day we visited, there was also an area where a Habitat volunteer could demonstrate brick-building techniques.

This beautiful quilt hangs in the Discovery Center.

Returning to the Discovery Center, we talked with a staff member who told us about the Global Village's volunteer trips (see this link for a list of prospective trips).  There are various opportunities from building homes to disaster recovery to working with vulnerable populations like children or the disabled.  There are even trips just for women.  I'm not sure I could do that, given my hearing loss and my need for an electrical source to recharge my hearing aid batteries every night.

Perhaps I'll just send Tim in my place.  That at least would be a step in the right direction!