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Americus, Georgia, is the international headquarters for Habitat for Humanity. Their Global Village and Discovery Center is located just outside downtown, and it’s a great learning experience for all. It displays model homes from select countries around the world that Habitat works in.
History of Habitat for Humanity
Linda and Millard Fuller founded Habitat for Humanity in 1976. They provide “simple, decent, and affordable” housing in order to address the issue of poverty around the world. Volunteers travel to several countries around the world in order to build homes for people who have undergone extensive background checks. The new homeowners purchase the finished home at a 0% to 2% mortgage rate, allowing them to better manage their finances.
Global Village
The Global Village is free to visitors with an optional donation. On the entry path, there’s a plaza with a large sculpture of Earth. Biblical passages sit on each side of the globe. Bricks with names of donors are on the ground and walls.
Inside the welcome center, you can watch a short film about Habitat for Humanity and how it has positively impacted families around the world. Before heading out to the village, you’re given a “passport” with a list of all the countries represented. You can stamp your passport in each of the model homes you visit.
Poverty Village
The first part of the village takes you through an example of how people live in poverty in parts of the world. Ramshackle homes are put together with whatever materials are available, and interpretive panels explain how disease can be spread from unsanitary conditions in and around homes like these.
The homes are decorated and furnished how those living in poverty would probably keep them.
Other examples show churches, schools, shops, and more.
Central America
The next section takes you through model homes in Central America, starting with Mexico;
followed by Guatemala and Haiti.
Africa and the Middle East
Next is Africa and the Middle East, starting with Kenya;
and Botswana;
followed by Malawi and Ghana;
then Zambia and Uganda;
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania;
and finally, South Africa, which has the most comfortable looking model homes.
Also in Africa is a model schoolhouse and a demonstration area showing how blocks are made.
Asia and the Pacific
Finally, Asia and the Pacific are represented starting with India;
followed by Sri Lanka;
and finally, Papua New Guinea, which is built on stilts.
Conclusion
Overall, Habitat for Humanity’s Global Village and Discovery Center is a wonderful place to visit. It’s especially important for children, giving them a chance to see what absolute poverty looks like and why it’s important to fight it.
