Home, Strong Home

A sturdy house brings a sense of security for a widow in Papua New Guinea.

Sana Titus is a widow with three grown-up sons and three young grandchildren. She and her family live on 50 hectares of land near Lae, capital of the northern coastal province of Morobe in Papua New Guinea. Her main income is from growing betel nut, a major cash crop in the area. The nuts are sold in the local market on the highway connecting the west coast with the highlands, and in Lae.

Her interest in owning an affordable permanent home was kindled when she saw a Habitat house. Her previous house was in the traditional style, made from bush materials with sego leaf walls. Like all such houses, it did not last long – four years at most – and then required a lot of time and effort to rebuild, all the more difficult without the support of a husband. It was also prone to damage from tropical storms and needed a lot of maintenance, especially in roof repairs.

Sana’s three-bedroom timber Habitat house was built in 2004. Since the timber was provided from her family’s own land, the cost of the house (mainly hardware) was low at 4,550 kina (US$1,600). It was constructed by local volunteers trained by Habitat.

She decided to make quarterly mortgage repayments, but managed to pay off the entire mortgage within a year of the house being built. Most of the money came from cash contributions from guests in the surrounding community who attended the dedication or house-warming day. This is a traditional occasion in Papua New Guinea whereby the host also provides a feast with numerous pigs slaughtered for the occasion.

“I feel comfortable and secure in my new house,” she says. “It doesn’t leak like my old one. I can now concentrate on generating income rather than on shelter.”

Sana also sees benefits for her grandchildren when they reach school-going age since they have a comfortable place to do their homework.