What is a tithing partner?
We participate in the Habitat Tithe Program, which works to eliminate poverty housing in communities around the world. Habitat affiliates give 10% back to the Tithe Program which funds Habitat organizations in other countries. NW Metro Atlanta Habitat’s tithing partner is Habitat for Humanity Uganda. In addition to the 468 houses built locally, we tithed to fund another 370 houses in Uganda. We also support a microeconomics program that allows Ugandan families to build their homes piecemeal as they can afford to pay for them. This means that a family might borrow funds to cover the cost of bricks, pay the loan back and then take out another small loan to pay for roofing materials, and so on until the house is complete.
Habitat for Humanity Uganda
Habitat for Humanity Uganda welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1982, Habitat Uganda has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 8,500 houses – helping over 62,000 people achieve affordable quality housing.
The housing need in Uganda
With an average income of $65 a month, it is not surprising that over two-thirds of Ugandans live in substandard housing. The reality is clear – the lack of quality housing compromises people’s health and development opportunies and perpetuates poverty. Housing is more than a house – it is the environment in which we live. It is about how we come together in communities and how we care for each other.
Meet a Habitat Family
Sambula Grace is 42 years old and has 13 children under her care; 10 are her biological children and 3 are her brother’s who died in the 2010 landslide in Bududa. After relocating to Kiryandongo, life became hard for her. She struggled to fend for the children, to provide them with food, education and medical care. Grace and her family lived in a mud and wattle house that had a tarpaulin roof and was in a poor state. It had collapsed on one side and was too small to accommodate all her children. The door to the girls’ room was so weak that anyone could break in. Grace has been blessed with a new house that was constructed by Habitat for Humanity Uganda with support from KOICA. The house is complete with a rainwater harvesting unit attached to her roof and a 3,000 liter water storage tank. She also has a VIP latrine with an adjacent shower stall. Grace is relieved that her girls are now safe.