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Celebrities Join Habitat for Humanity Youth BUILD 2014 to Support Asia's Youth Tackle Poverty Housing
More than 15,000 young people to build homes and communities; 100,000 to raise awareness of substandard housing issues through social networks
BANGKOK, Apr 03, 2014 - (ACN Newswire) - Celebrities from across Asia have joined Habitat Youth BUILD 2014, committed to raising awareness and taking action to tackle poverty housing in the region.
In China, singer and actress Stephy Tang, and Macau-based singers Siufay and Vivian Chan, will be leading volunteers to build homes in Guangdong province.
In Nepal, comedian Sitaram Kattel, singer Nirnaya Shrestha, youth activist Santosh Shah, actress Reecha Sharma and TV personality Prem Baniya will be joining a rally in Kathmandu.
In Thailand, singing duo Scrubb have roused their extensive online fan base to raise funds for decent housing and will be leading cleaning and painting activities in Bangkok. Fellow singer Filipino Christian Bautista is also putting his social networks to good use, recruiting volunteers to build at sites affected by Typhoon Haiyan and Bohol earthquake.
Most recently, Whulandary Herman, Miss Indonesia 2013, kicked off the Habitat Youth BUILD video competition. In her video submission explaining what a home means to her, she states: "For me, home brings a sense of belonging and security. When at home, I am surrounded by my family and I feel safe."
Entries for the video competition, launched today, will be accepted until 17 April. Voting starts as soon as videos are uploaded onto the Habitat Youth BUILD Facebook group page, and continue until 22 April. The creator of the winning video, chosen by popular vote, will win an iPad Air.
To find out more about Habitat Youth BUILD and the video competition, visit www.habitatyouthbuild.org.
"These high-profile ambassadors will help draw greater attention to Habitat Youth BUILD and our vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. We are expecting to galvanize more than 15,000 young builders and 100,000 online supporters through Habitat Youth BUILD in 2014 - with the help of our celebrity friends, we can recruit even more," said Rick Hathaway, Habitat for Humanity vice president for Asia-Pacific.
"Having a decent home breaks the poverty cycle, and leads to better health, and improved education and employment prospects. We are seeing this groundswell of support from young people that want to see real change in Asia," continued Hathaway.
Youth in 11 countries - Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea and Thailand - will campaign on- and offline to garner support for the Habitat Youth BUILD movement and raise vital funds to tackle poverty housing in the region.
Launched in February 2014, the third instalment of Habitat Youth BUILD began with a T-shirt design competition. With more than 10,000 votes cast on Facebook, the most popular T-shirt design was created by Samuel Sunder, a 22-year-old from Chennai, India.
Awareness and fundraising activities are taking place across the Asia-Pacific region, building to mass-participation one-day builds at numerous sites, across multiple countries, on 3 May. In addition to building, Habitat volunteers are taking part in flash mobs in Hong Kong and Jakarta; engaging in poverty housing discussions in universities across Cambodia; conducting street fundraising in Tokyo; attending a concert in Bangkok; securing the support of Nepal's Minister of Youth and Sport and staging rallies in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts.
Habitat Youth BUILD 2014 builds on last year's success that involved more than 100,000 volunteers in seven countries across 42 sites. The campaign supported more than 700 low-income families.
Join the Habitat Youth BUILD 2014 community on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/groups/habitatyouthbuild.
Notes to Editors
To set up interviews, receive photography or further information, please contact Heron Holloway, +65 9068 1892, hholloway@habitat.org
About Habitat Youth BUILD 2014
Habitat for Humanity Youth BUILD 2014 is a movement to raise awareness of the terrible poverty housing situation in the Asia-Pacific region and grow support for the vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live. It calls for concerned young people to take action together to build homes and communities, on a Habitat build site and online through their social networks. www.habitatyouthbuild.org
Contact:Heron Holloway
+65 9068 1892
hholloway@habitat.org
Source: Habitat for Humanity International
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