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I'm here in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where the NGO Habitats are building a new home on site for a Cambodian family. So let's get started. This is day one of the build. And we'll be here all week.
Over five days, the team of volunteers work alongside locals on this project. Twenty-two Americans have flown halfway round the world to toil in the tropical heat. It's a way of finding purpose through volunteering.
My husband Rod and I have been really fortunate in our lives. And we just want to take this opportunity to give back. And Cambodia is very much a country in need.
For Yot Sat and her husband, it's not just purpose. It's quality of life. They'd built their own home out of wood and palm leaves, but there were problems.
Here in Cambodia, 2m houses in a country of 16m people failed to meet the government's minimum standards. But Habitat, which works around the world, is helping to change that. They've helped build and repair homes for 70,000 households in 15 years they've been in Cambodia. Habitat hire local skilled workers and managers to oversee the building projects.
And how has it been working with volunteers?
Yes. It's good, good working with a good corporation, and also the hard job for volunteers was the bamboo floor.
Many hands make light work, and the house is built quickly.
It's day five, the very last day of the build. And the volunteer team are putting the finishing touches on the house before it's handed over to the family.
Some argue it's more cost effective for volunteers to donate money rather than time. But they value being among the communities they're benefiting. And the excitement drives engagement for the charity. By the time of the handover the volunteers are sad to leave.
But Yot Sat is happy to begin life in her new home.