World Humanitarian Day: People Helping People

August 19th is World Humanitarian Day; a day recognized by the United Nations to honor aid workers around the world who dedicate their lives to helping others. 

There is never a year without disasters, wars, and other harmful situations, but this year there seems to be an increased number. From the earthquake in Japan, tornadoes in the south, famine in the horn of Africa, unrest in the Middle East, 2011 has been filled with accounts of disaster and devastation. Today we remember and thank those who voluntarily put their lives in the middle of these situations to help in whatever ways are needed. According to the UN Secretary General; "This is also a day to examine our own lives and consider what more we can do to help -- to reach out to people enduring conflict, disaster and hardship.  Let those we honour today inspire us to start our own journey to make the world a better place and bring our human family more closely together."

So today we ask, what more can we do to help those in our own community who struggle with conflict, hardship, or from disasters? How can we better serve our family, friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens? And we thank all the aid workers around the world who help in countless ways.

People Helping People image via www.worldhumanitarianday.info

Responding to Disasters

In 2005 Habitat for Humanity of Southern Santa Barbara teamed up with Allen Associates to build a home for a family displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The home was built in a Creole architecture style and was "built to ship," meaning it was assembled in Santa Barbara and shipped to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. It was a wonderful community-wide collaborative build and a way that we here in Santa Barbara could help those affected by the disaster. 

Putting the pieces together in Santa Barbara

The finished house, built in Santa Barbara, now at home in Bay St. Louis

With news coming again from the south this week of more devastating tornadoes and severe storms, Habitat for Humanity International is again assessing the damage and raising money to help low-income homeowners affected by these storms.

According to HFHI: The central United States has been hit by back-to-back disasters with a devastating tornado in Joplin, Mo., other tornadoes across the south and Midwest and flooding from the Mississippi River. Affected communities face an enormous task of cleaning up and rebuilding. Habitat for Humanity affiliates throughout the region will be assessing the damage to low-income housing in their communities. 

Click here for more information and ways to donate to Habitat for Humanity International and the disaster relief efforts. Be sure to designate your gift to: Disaster Response: U.S. Tornadoes and Flooding