Japanese students build houses for poor women

The 14-day endeavour was a philanthropic gesture

Three impoverished women in a non-descript village in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district could finally have a roof above their head, thanks to a touching gesture from foreign students.

The students, from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, performed 14 days of physical labour required to construct the houses as a philanthropic gesture, while the sums required for construction came from Habitat for Humanity-India.

Part of a programme to build low-cost houses for below poverty families, the student team, comprising 10 girls and 8 boys and led by M Yuki, arrived in the Khangri village of Nadbai Panchayat, surprising villagers by their ability to perform all construction without complaint.

Braving the heat and dust, the students reached Khangri each morning from this base camp in Bharatpur and did everything from carrying stones to the site, digging the foundations, preparing concrete and assisting masons and labourers, ensuring the women --Vimalesh, Rajni and Shiv Devi—had a memorable gift at the end of the project.

One of the students, Haru, said the labour has only left her satisfied, especially as she thought that it would provide living quarters to poor women.

Another member of her group, Ochaka, defined his experience as unforgettable.

The students had the taste of poverty and its challenges in the backward Bharatpur, something they cannot experience back home.

Students from Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have also participated in similar programmes in various villages of Bharatpur.

Habitat for Humanity-India has been partnering with a local organisation to build brick houses for the BPL families living in huts and mud structures.   

Martin Shah, the organisation’s New Delhi-based (India) project officer said most of the 120 houses in Bharatpur, for which his organisation had sanctioned funds, have been completed.