Residents of Bermuda from all walks of life have been building homes for the needy in foreign countries for the last three years and are already planning their summer 2006 trip. Group leader David Thompson talked to Royal Gazette reporter Sam Strangeways about why the Habitat Overseas Missions project is so important to him.

It was a proud and poignant moment for David Thompson when his teenage son Alex approached a young boy about his own age in Botswana and handed over his boots.

The 13-year-old, who was in the country helping to build family homes from scratch with his father and other volunteers from Bermuda, had realised the barefoot youngster?s need for shoes was far greater than his.

?Alex said to the boy: ?You need them more than me?,? said David, 53, of Warwick. ?It was touching. My son had a great experience. It just brought home to him about what was going on.?

The moment last August summed up for David just why he and others like him use their holiday time to travel thousands of miles to help others each year.

Since 2003, David, 53, has taken teams of volunteers from the Island to Africa, South America and the US as part of the Habitat Overseas Missions project. This year?s trip is likely to be to eastern Europe, possibly Romania.

?Bermuda is just such a privileged life,? he says. ?You just don?t know what?s going on in the world. I think it?s really important especially to give our young people the chance to experience what?s happening and get exposed to that. If nothing else, they get an appreciation for what they have.?

The ethos behind Habitat for Humanity ? an international non-profit Christian organisation which builds houses for those who lack shelter ? is simple.

Those who need homes must put their own time and effort ? known as ?sweat equity? ? into building their house and houses for others.

They must also make an affordable down payment on the property and keep up monthly interest-free mortgage payments.

Any money raised by Habitat is ploughed back into building more homes. David, an accountant at AMS, says: ?It?s brilliant. It?s a self-fulfilling prophecy because it builds on itself. When we are building, we are building alongside mum and dad.

?The local Habitat group get applications. They vet them very carefully and choose on the basis of need and what their living conditions are like now.

?It?s not giving homes away. People have to pay for them. It makes homes available to people who work hard but can?t afford to get that down payment. It?s helping those people earn a house.?

Anyone can volunteer for one of the trips and there is no age limit or fitness requirement. All David, who is originally from London but has lived on the Island for 26 years, asks is for enthusiastic volunteers in reasonable health who are prepared to work hard.

He became a volunteer after he was approached by the minister at his church, the Reverend Alan Garrity, of Christ Church, Warwick, to lead a mission abroad.

?I guess he thought I would be good because I have got four children,? laughs David. ?I?m used to organising. It started within the church but soon grew beyond that.?

In 2003, 18 volunteers from Bermuda went with David to Montana in the States to build homes from wood.

?I thought ?if you are going to cut your teeth, do it somewhere safe, somewhere where you can?t get into much trouble?,? says David.

His confidence boosted, he took a group of 20 the following year to Cochabamba, Bolivia, where two homes where built using bricks and mortar.

?I thought we?d go somewhere more needy,? he says. ?At that time I didn?t get a big response from the church so with the church?s permission I took it to a non-denominational group.

?We ended up being what I call a cross-section of Bermuda. People of all faiths, all backgrounds, from all walks of life came. Some Jewish, some atheists, even the minister came.?

Last year?s trip in August was more adventurous still. David?s team ? including students from a number of schools on the Island ? travelled to Mahalapye in Botswana, where they built three houses in two weeks and then went on safari.

Those taking part had to raise $3,000 in sponsorship, $500 of which was a donation to Habitat. The rest of the cash bought materials and covered air fare, other transport and accommodation.

The homes built were brick with corrugated iron roofs. Though basic, David says the houses were a vast improvement on where local families normally lived.

?Some people say Botswana is one of the more wealthy countries of Africa but it?s still got 45 per cent unemployment. The wealth is not going down to the people and the average life expectancy is 37.

?The conditions they live in are not great. A lot of the local houses are made of a mix of mud and cow dung. The Habitat homes are basic but they are a far cry from that.?

Despite this, Habitat?s method of helping the poor has come in for criticism. David explains: ?Some people have criticised us and said if you multiply 20 people by $3,000 that?s an awful lot of money you could send.

?But that way you never know if the money is going where it is meant to. We have got control of it but more importantly I?m not just doing it for that. I?m doing it for me because we all get something out of it.

?We get back as much as we can give. You spend time with these people and you get to know these people.?

He said the volunteers found it tough to leave their new-found African friends at the end of the trip.

?It?s just a wonderful experience. They embrace you. We are part of the family. When you walk away you walk away with a heavy heart.

?When we were leaving, they dressed the children up and they danced for us. We gave speeches and the homeowners came and hugged us all and they were crying.

?They said they had nothing and now they have a home. We made their dream come true.?

@EDITRULE:

To get involved in this year?s trip to eastern Europe call David on 295-1078 or 505-4600 or email davidams.bm.