Site Visit: Habitat for Humanity Global Village

There are times when you stumble upon something that at first seems like a day out and then suddenly strikes you as an interpretive "teachable moment". This is the case with Habitat for Humanity Global Village and Discovery Center in Americus, Georgia. Americus happens to be the headquarters location for the non-profit organization Habitat for Humanity, an organization that builds homes for people all around the world, both in poverty stricken countries but also in the US. Their Global Village is a showcase of what kinds of living structures volunteers and local soon-to-be home owners build and how they differ from country to country

My passport and cancellations

Since every location has different environmental factors like geography, climate, weather conditions and concerns, as well as cultural considerations and styles, every home in country is different. Since Mexico is totally different than Malaysia, the styles of homes are different as well. Using a set "cookie cutter" plan design, builders are able to build homes exactly the same way using the same design, materials, and methods to quickly put up a structure in that locality.

We were given a "passport" that we could stamp that indicated that we had visited all the locations provided and each home was equipped with a stamping station. Collecting stamps is a great way to encourage understanding and visiting every location.

The shanty town

The tour first starts off in a walk down a shantytown street. Houses are made of corrugated tin siding and roofing, dirt floors, narrow streets, pallet beds, broken chairs, and have unsafe or unsanitary conditions. Along this pathway are interpretive signs prompting emotional responses of the visitors. "Would you like to live here?", "Where would you use the bathroom?", and "Would you feel safe here?" are some of the questions that are asked of the visitors to consider as they wander through this display. The visitors are asked to think about their feelings about their experience, an Audience Centered Experience that puts the visitors in the shoes of the people who actually live in such conditions. One striking feature was the use of non functioning electrical equipment, such as a light bulb suspended by a string or a old TV set. The idea behind this bizarre decoration was the hope of a better future where the resident of the shack hoped to one day have electricity to use that light bulb or watch TV on that set, or run that fan or radio.

Interpretive questions

Mexico

Beyond the shantytown lay the Habitat for Humanity samples, grouped by region. Each had different floor plans, colors, materials, and methods. Included in the tour was a workshop area where some of the materials used for constructing some of the homes can be made as a demonstration for visiting groups. For example, a simple brick making machine helps churn out bricks that would be used for the construction. Demonstration is a great interpretive technique to foster understanding and empathy to the people helping to make their own homes or volunteers helping in those locations. It's also a physical activity that helps work out some of that extra energy from visiting kids.

Housing is a global problem and a national one too

While the focus is on the international efforts to help alleviate housing poverty, it also reminds the visitor that there is a housing problem in the United States as well. The rising costs of rent, or home ownership, make it hard to keep up adequate living conditions, even in the United States. The Habitat for Humanity Global Village, while it is not a historical interpretive site, is still an interpretive center that highlights a provocative question of how to house the world's rising population affordably and adequately. It answers the question with the sample building and demonstrates the organization's ability to help out with a national and international need by meeting one of the basic needs of everyone: to have a home.

Visit the website here: https://www.habitat.org/about/global-village-discovery-center