This July from 16 to 19, 152 volunteers from Grant Thornton will participate in a four-day build in collaboration with 13 households to build new houses in Quang Nam Province. Mr. Greg Keith, CEO of Grant Thornton Australia will volunteer alongside Mr. Nguyen Chi Trung, CEO & Managing Partner of Grant Thornton Vietnam and other Grant Thornton employee volunteers to help low-income families have a decent place to live. The build has received incredible support from within Grant Thornton, with Mr Peter Bodin, CEO of Grant Thornton International also travelling to Vietnam to provide additional labour. The event will be opened by a representative from the Australian Consulate in Vietnam, Shaun Fitzgerald. The build event marks the first time Habitat for Humanity Vietnam (Habitat Vietnam), Habitat for Humanity Australia and Grant Thornton have cooperated to bring decent homes to 13 families in Vietnam.
All 13 homeowners supported in the project experience financial difficulties with unstable income of lower than five million dong (about 215 USD) a month. The families’ houses are degraded with severe damages such as a leaky roof, rotten wooden-framed walls, and unsanitary toilets and overcrowding. The houses fail to protect the families from natural hazards such as erratic weather conditions and typhoons during the annual disaster season. Over the project duration, these 13 households will benefit from project activities through a new housing and water and sanitation facility building program.
The Grant Thornton volunteers will begin to lay the first bricks on the original land that used to hold the severely damaged houses. Hand in hand, the volunteers will join the homeowners to not only build houses, but also to build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. Through these efforts, volunteers and families work toward Habitat’s vision of “A world where everyone has a decent place to live.”
Talking about the positive impacts on community through the Habitat Vietnam-Grant Thornton partnership, Ms. Kelly Koch, National Director of Habitat Vietnam shared: “We are very excited about the new partnership with Grant Thornton Australia. This project will greatly improve the lives of families in Vietnam thanks to the support of the volunteers.”
Mr Greg Keith from Grant Thornton Australia shared some remarks: “This is the second build that Grant Thornton has participated in – with 135 leaders from Australia travelling to Cambodia in 2015. The experience itself was life changing. And with more people building more houses in 2018, we’re looking forward to working alongside Habitat for Humanity to make a real difference to local families.”
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