A friend of mine here at Columbia is from the Philippines and has worked with "slum upgrading" and a very interesting organization in her home country called Gawad Kalinga. They work with communities to support land tenure and also community participation in rebuilding or revitalizing their own homes. Similar to Habitat for Humanity, the residents pay for their new homes within the same community by investing "sweat equity" and helping fellow community members build their own homes. I encourage you to check out their work. One of the other interesting aspects is that they make everything really bright to make a more uplifting environment! See image here.
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Kye: When I moved into my apartment 4 years ago, it was the first home I owned (vs. rented through Columbia University) since I became a single mother more than a decade ago. A newly graduated urban designer, Madeline Ruiz, transformed my neglected space into an explosion of light and color. The hues she used are VIBRANT, and my home lifts my spirits the way I imagine that Gawad Kalinga creates uplifting environments for people in the Philippines. Ron, a former urban planning student from whom I learned a great deal in our course 5 years ago, still writes to me. He returned to his home country of the Philippines and is engaged in meaningful community-based work, which he updates me on from time to time. I miss all of you and look forward to learning more from you and your classmates when we meet again. Until then, I hope this finds you well and happy, Mary
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