When Millard Fuller founded Habitat for Humanity, he was inspired by his Christian faith to help those in need. "I see life as both a gift and a responsibility. My responsibility is to use what God has given me to help his people in need." Though Habitat for Humanity is a Christian based organization, it does its work in a way that those with different faiths can be involved and feel comfortable. As an organization, they do not shy away from their religious roots but they also don't use it as a venue to proselytize.
My first two Habitat for Humanity volunteer trips this year were in countries that were predominantly Christian, Costa Rica and Romania. The only outwardly religious thing that I saw during my volunteer experiences were during the morning reflection sessions before we started to work. During those sessions, people would provide words of encouragement and at times someone might share a biblical passage before a few moments of silence.
I was interested if there would be any changes in India since only a small part of the country was Christian. The staff of the Habitat's local affiliate was mostly Christian but the families they were working with were mostly Hindu and Muslim. The group worked very well between all the religions. Since the staff members were all local people, they were sensitive to their client's customs and beliefs even if they didn't share the same faith.
As a team, we were asked to respect any of the customs in the village and to refrain from talking about sensitive issues regarding religion or caste. Since there was a significant language barrier that was not a hard request to follow.
The village was fairly diverse with Hindu and Muslim families living side by side. There was a small mosque and a few Hindu shrines in the small village. Religion was an important part of peoples lives but wasn't one that divided people.
Our first day of work was during the Hindu festival of Diwali. Out of respect, we were assigned to work with three families of Muslim background since the Hindu the families would celebrating the holiday. We were told that during the first day of a new build or a new group there were often a small prayer or puja given. Though we were working with a Muslim family, there was still a Hindu blessing provided at the site the construction manager/mason on the site was Hindu. In addition, each of the volunteers in our group was welcomed with a prayer and flower garlands.
Pictured: My fellow volunteer, D'Ann Tollet, being blessed during our first day at the site.
At one point, I was looking at the people working on my site-there were people of Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Muslim faiths setting cement blocks for the walls of a new house. It was a very powerful visual that I am sure that no one else in my group noticed. The power of faith in action.
Hi. You don’t know me, but I have been following your blog for quite awhile now. I greatly admire everything you are doing…one day I hope to go on a similar trip and include volunteering. Thank you for allowing me to follow your travels.
Your itinerary says that you are still in India…I hope you and your family are fine. I look forward to hearing you are safe.