Hope starts with a home
Imagine a family that have lost their home, and even loved ones, in a conflict or a disaster. They are now forced into a place where they are confronted with past traumas and an uncertain future.
How does one recover from this situation?
It starts with the little things that many of us take for granted: having private space with a door to lock at night. Walls around us that don’t confine but keep us safe. A place to process horrific experiences, and to reach a point of healing. A place to speak, to think and to laugh freely, where old habits re-emerge and new ones are cultivated, even if temporary.
Our shelters are the building blocks to a transitional life of dignity and hope for vulnerable persons in a shared situation, and who can empower each other by engaging in their own sheltering process.
The shelters can be customised and repurposed using local materials and other old and forgotten objects such as fabrics, planks and clay. Windows can be moved and porches can be decorated with keepsakes that represent fond memories of a life left behind.
The shelters are symbols of encouragement and persistence, to keep going for days, or sometimes years. Then finally some day, the families who once resided in the shelter are long gone and well into their journey of pursuing their dreams with the ability to focus on the hope of what awaits them.