HABiTAT For HuMANiTy They certainly did – particularly for the family of eight and to pay it off far more quickly. who now call the four-bedroom house a home. “it’s a big The construction project also provided a boost to the change in life. We’re excited,” said Somali refugee omar russell neighborhood, a low-income area just west of Muse, 32, who works in Louisville as a taxi driver and downtown Louisville that has many boarded-up homes. translator. “To see all these students showing up every New Habitat houses – the group will build about two day to help, you can’t imagine. i feel like they’re family.” dozen in Louisville this year – often spark momentum At a gathering held in Bellarmine’s Cralle Theater be- for repairs or renewal, Mr. Locke said. fore the project started, he introduced the students to his Mr. rich said the Habitat project seemed to flow well family: his wife, ubah Adan, 31; their children, Ali, 8, from a previous year’s focus in Governor’s Scholars on Mohammed, 7, Hawa, 3, and Kamal, 2; and ubah Adan’s homelessness, during which one night the students slept sisters Hana ibrahim, 12, and Asha Adan, 21. outside in cardboard boxes. Mr. Muse told the students that he left Somalia because Aris Cedeño, executive director of the Governor’s of the civil war that began in 1991, when armed groups Scholars program, urged the students to think critically overthrew the nation’s military rulers, sending the country about the sacred space of home, and about how for this into a spiral of war that continues today. But leaving wasn’t family who came to the u.S. for political freedom, the easy. He fled with others in a vehicle that broke down in home would provide “another kind of freedom: economic the desert, leaving them for days without food or water – freedom.” only to be rescued just in time to avoid death. Armed with a sense of mission, the students were quickly put to work after arriving on campus for the program, which included courses on topics such as archit- ectural design, film studies and astronomy; a classic films “t ucky landmarks such as Mammoth Cave.Students worked in short shifts during the hours ofseries; and field trips to downtown museums and Kent-o see all these students showing 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on four days during the week, with most up every day to the minors had to follow: no power tools, no tall laddersof the 360 students participating. There were a few rules help, you can’t and no roofs. imagine.i feel like Louisville, said he was drawn to the Governor’s ScholarsZachary Bickett, 16, a Trinity High School student from they’re family.” program because it helps prepare students for college whileallowing them to make friends and enrich their learning experience. Helping to build the Habitat house was a “very cool” bonus, he said. Maria Wang, 17, was nailing a piece of vinyl siding onto eventually he made it to a refugee camp in Kenya, where an insulated board – a new experience for the Lexington he spent years before being resettled in the united States student. “i love seeing how it’s coming together,” she said. and coming to Louisville in 2000. He met his wife, who “To do this knowing how important it is for them is great.” moved from another state to start a family with him. But The family, who had Somali relatives already living with no education because of the war, and a meager income nearby, worked alongside the students. on one day, they driving a taxi, home ownership seemed a distant dream, he brought Somali pastry and treats in plastic bags for the said – until he applied for a Habitat home. students, thanking them for their lightning-fast work and rob Locke, director of Habitat for Humanity of Metro the new relationships that broadened horizons for every- Louisville, said the group doesn’t simply give people homes. one involved. instead, it required Mr. Muse and his family to put in 400 The house was dedicated on July 14. hours of sweat equity and to make monthly payments of “it means so much to have a place that we own,” Asha about $500 on a roughly $75,000 interest-free loan. But Adan said. “We can settle down, not just going from apart- that will allow them to own a home at a subsidized cost, ment to apartment.” fall 2012 29
Bellarmine Magazine_Fall2012
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