Habitat for Humanity: Romania

Habitat for Humanity is an internationally renowned and recognized organization that rebuilds communities into prosperous and sustainable developments. 2 summers ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Romania with HFH: Learn and Build Experience. I spent two weeks in Ploiesti, Romania assisting in building a Habitat for Humanity home as well as learning about the need for Habitat through educational activities. My group and I would work on the homes for a majority of the day and in the evening we would discuss about Romanian oppression and the role of the government. Through Habitat for Humanity, I was able to gain more knowledge about global poverty. By building new homes for the recipient families, I was able to restore their hope and confidence. When a person travel abroad, it is often difficult to create lasting ties and effective participation; however, Habitat for Humanity encouraged us to look part the label of international visitor and focus more on the amount of impact one can leave. I was able to create meaningful relationships with the families by listening to their life stories while working alongside them. To this day, with the help of Google Translate, I still email a mother from one of the families. Knowledge is not only obtained through institutional methods, but also by pushing your personal boundaries. By pushing myself to volunteer internationally at a young age to a foreign country, I have been able to take on a new perspective to the world. I am very grateful to Habitat for Humanity for being the organization that helped me find this passion for global volunteering. Their ability to make me feel comfortable, safe, and important was crucial to my overall experience.