Building Houses, Building Bridges

Author: Saudi Aramco Dimensions (Diana Blackwell)
Released 9 September 2007

Habitat for Humanity volunteers raise a wall frame for a new home in Csurgó, Hungary

DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA — Charlie Franck is a citizen of the world. An American counselor, Franck came to Saudi Arabia in the late 1970s to work in Aramco schools; his kids were born here. He went on to work in Thailand, Kenya and Egypt before his international career path led him back full-circle to Saudi Aramco in 2003. And like a lot of seasoned travelers, Franck knows that the world itself is a classroom. Meeting people and seeing how they live can open vistas of understanding like nothing else.

Such insight informs Franck’s work as a counselor at Saudi Aramco’s Dhahran School, where he advises students in grades six through nine on boarding-school selection (at grade 10, expatriate students must continue their education at the private Dhahran Academy adjacent to the U.S. Consulate or outside the Kingdom) and standardized testing. Franck supplements that guidance in an unconventional way: getting students out into the world through Habitat for Humanity International’s “Global Village” program to gain the life-enriching perspective that comes from getting involved and giving back.

Student volunteer Sarah Samaha takes a break at the build site in Hungary. Samaha is from Abqaiq and is presently a student at the American University of Cairo, in Egypt.

Franck’s longtime interest in international community work for students jelled in Cairo, where he helped administer a “week without walls” program, including Habitat trips to Egypt and Ethiopia. When Franck returned to Dhahran, Habitat’s ideal outreach fit inspired him to approach Saudi Aramco about sponsoring trips for middle school and “returning” students (company dependents coming back into Kingdom for family visits).

Why Habitat? The organization, founded in 1973 by Millard and Linda Fuller, a millionaire married couple in Americus, Georgia, in the United States, takes a hands-on approach to affordable housing. Prospective homeowners, who have insufficient income to qualify for conventional home loans and are either homeless or in substandard housing, must be able to pay an interest-free Habitat loan to a revolving fund, and work at least 1,000 hours alongside volunteers of all ages, backgrounds and capabilities. Letting future occupants and volunteers work side by side helps build a common sense of purpose. In addition, Habitat’s dramatic impact — more than 200,000 homes have been built in over 100 countries — fits Saudi Aramco’s corporate philosophy of supporting efforts to improve quality of life and opportunity, Franck said. What’s more, Habitat matches the school’s commitment to innovative activities that develop the “whole” student.

Preparing to Work

Aly Samaha of Abqaiq, a student at the American University of Cairo, uses his construction skills in hammering part of the foundation at the Hungary build site.

Franck’s own commitment to Habitat as a shaping influence is reflected in the considerable advance work that makes possible each of the two annual Saudi Aramcosponsored trips, one in April for middle school students and one in July for returning students. “There’s a fair amount of logistics involved in coordinating our participation,” said Franck, who also organized a Habitat trip to Jordan in 2005.

The many levels of preparation begin with contacting Habitat’s international office, which helps select the “build site.” Then, Franck manages myriad tasks that go into organizing the trip. First, students write essays on why they wantto participate in a build. Next, raising the necessary funds becomes the focus. Because Saudi Aramco does not provide funding — all costs are the responsibility of participants — Franck helps the kids organize events to raise the standard contribution requested by Habitat, plus travel and accommodation expenses. “For the Jordan build, for example, the students held a number of fundraisers in both the school and the community,” Franck said, “ranging from car washes, cookie sales, movies for elementary school children and spaghetti dinners. Donations from student government and from the participants’ families also helped.”

Franck’s preliminary work also includes keeping participants in the loop through a trip newsletter and handling trip logistics (Habitat helps organize sightseeing, hotel reservations and ground transportation). In addition, Franck holds a pre-trip workshop, at which the students get acquainted; try their hands at measuring, sawing and hammering; and learn a little about the language and culture of the host country.

Building Character, Building a Home

A volunteer gets to know local citizens better.

"Our most recent Habitat trip took us to Csurgó, a rural town in southern Hungary, in July 2006,” Franck said. “This is a country where 1.2 million people live in overcrowded conditions and, overwhelmingly, are without sewage systems and indoor plumbing. We took 18 returning students ranging in age from 16 to 23. Our project was to help frame two duplexes during our sevenday stay in Csurgó. Even before we left, we were getting to know the families who would occupy the four units: a fireman and nurse expecting their first child; a mechanic and housewife with three kids; an electronics store worker and bank employee with one child; and a pair of governmentworkers with three children. Because Habitat is not a giveaway proposition and the new owners put in sweat equity, there’s tremendous opportunity for interaction while you’re building a home.”

Communication can be a challenge when language is a barrier — especially Hungarian, which is difficult to master. The students, however, found nonverbal means — for example, playing soccer with the Habitat families after a hard day’s work, or bringing pictures of their own families and pets to share.

Of course, the biggest way the students and families built rapport was by working together on the homes.

“Students who take part in Habitat typically are picking up a hammer for the first time,” Franck observed. “They might suggest that we use power tools to speed the work along. But they come to understand that the hands-on approach keeps costs downand homes affordable. They appreciate the results; it’s magical to be able to say, ‘That wall or that window frame wasn’t there this morning.’ They also realize that partnering to make someone’s life better is a pretty great feeling.”

Charlie Franck, Lauren Ionta, Emma Dinneen and Paul Hammond help lay re-bar in the final stages of their build in Jordan. Lauren and Emma participated in both the Jordan and Hungary Habitat trips.

Experiencing the way others live can be eye-opening, too — for example, the students saw how it was to go to work at 6 a.m. to get a head start on intense heat and heavy humidity, take an afternoon siesta to cool down and create their own shade in a summer heat-wave when they’re accustomed to air conditioning. “Kids get a sense of what it’s like to be less fortunate. Saudi Aramco kids have a lot of advantages, but they also have big hearts,” Franck said. That generosity is reflected in the “extras” the students brought to their mission: In addition to donating tools to Habitat, they brought school supplies, clothing and soccer balls to a local recreation center for distribution to Csurgó kids.

Besides getting kids involved, Franck has had a mission of his own: finding someone to carry on the Habitat tradition after he retires at the end of the 2007 school year and starts a new “career” with Habitat. He has done just that in Julie Brockish, who teaches sixth-grade English at Dhahran School.

Cara Bally and Michael Pinkerton work together to relocate blocks for building the walls of a house in Jordan.

“When Charlie invited me on the Hungary trip, there was an implicit commitment to succeed him as coordinator,” Brockish said, noting that the opportunity struck a chord. “When I was a child, my father had surgery and wasn’t able to bring in the harvest on our farm. Our neighbors came and did it for him. That sense of community is what you see in Habitat; it’s like a barn-raising on a global level — neighbors helping neighbors, even if they’re separated by an ocean.”

Brockish was impressed by Habitat’s potential to benefit the students as much as the Hungarian families. “There was a huge learning curve the first day, since most of the kids had little or no experience with hand tools,” she said. “One girl told me, ‘When we started, I could hammer in a nail with 150 hits. Now I can do it with 85!’”

Trip participant Asha Benedyczak, now in 12th grade at St. Michael’s University School, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, reiterated the initial frustration the young builders encountered at first. “The work was hard. Since it was hot as well, it felt like nothing would ever get done. By the end of the week, though, we started pacing ourselves and had building strategies laid out. We also had groups specializing in certain areas, with different groups making different parts and one group putting it all together.”

Brockish emphasized the importance of this lesson: “The students saw that while they aren’t as efficient as professional builders, they’re making a real impact by helping improve someone else’s situation in life,” she said. “They learned that there’s a lot of satisfaction in working with your hands and gaining a new skill. They learned more about teamwork and cooperation, getting along with others while you’re all living and working in close quarters, dealing with the normal frustrations of doing manual labor in heavy humidity, and experiencing the shock of being immersed in a different culture.

Emma Dinneen in her spare time helps a local woman make Arab bread during the Jordan build.

“All the things that take us away from our comfort zone, plus the physical labor, help us build character, tenacity and tolerance,” Brockish continued. “We get exposed to new situations and see that there are other ways to live. Kids come to appreciate things more; they see that the concepts of poverty and human need are not the same as the reality of poverty and human need. But the greatest benefit is making a difference for someone.”

That’s because, as Brockish points out, there’s a ripple effect to the good the students do with Habitat. “A family gets more than a house,” she explained. “They’re getting out of a crowded, unsuitable space into a home that’s tight, safe and clean. Their health improves, and the children’s school performance improves. Parents feel optimistic and take another step toward a better life — maybe go back to school and get a better job. Every time a home improves, it strengthens the whole community. Their community is our community, too. How can it not be?”

A Life Changing Experience

Can a Habitat experience be as life-changing for the volunteer as it is for the new homeowner? “Absolutely,” said Christopher Gregory, now a senior at The Webb School of California in the U.S. “It’s taught me that a little work goes a long way. I contributed my time and hard work into the construction of a family’s new home and gained memories I’ll never forget. I love helping people, and I love traveling; this seemed like a perfect opportunity to do both.”

Katie Franck, a senior at Elon University, North Carolina, in the United States, is doing some critical measurements at the build site in Hungary, her second Habitat experience.

Asha remembered the satisfaction of discovering simple ways of communicating with the Hungarians she worked alongside — an experience that taught her and the group how much alike seemingly disparate people truly are. “The families were really sweet. The language was an obstacle at first; however, we soon understood some expressions. I even managed to memorize a short Hungarian piece that I recited to the congregation at church. The children were shy, but they brought us water and snacks at the worksite in the mornings.” The culminating moment came “When the families started teasing us about the music we were listening to and the way we danced. It’s my favorite memory.”

Brockish’s daughter Lindsey, who joined her mother for the trip and is now studying at the University of Washington (U.S.), appreciated the experience’s unique combination of team building and cultural immersion while giving the group an important new perspective.

“All our meals were eaten family-style at a large table, which definitely fostered a group spirit,” Lindsey said. “Eating was a cultural experience, too, because the Hungarian food, while delicious, was so different.” Her biggest impression? “It was humbling and inspiring to see the locals there working on the houses. We didn’t get to interact with them on the build site as much as we’d have liked, because they worked their regular jobs in addition to putting in time on the duplexes, and because of thelanguage barrier. But seeing their dedication, day after day, showed how much this chance at a better life meant to them.”

And there was yet another eye-opener: the Saudi Aramco volunteers getting to know each other on a new level. Of course, many of the young people were schoolmates. Yet the trip’s diverse mix — Arab, American, Canadian, male, female, Muslim, Christian — created a dynamic that strengthened the group as friends and team members. The repetitive nature of hammering nails and putting supports, walls and doorways together fostered a sense of trust. Their recreation — playing guitar, bowling, celebrating a birthday — cemented their bond.

An overwhelming majority of the Csurgó trip students reported that they would like to join another Habitat Global Village trip, a full 100 percent would bring a friend along for the experience and half would consider leading a trip. It’s a testimonial that Charlie Franck’s vision of giving his students a richer life through service will be a lasting legacy.

Because, as Julie Brockish puts it, “You aren’t just building homes. You’re building peace.”

Bricks are passed up a ramp to build the roof of a Habitat house in Gor-Al-Safi, Jordan.

"I made a difference": What Habitat means to me

When Charlie Franck and Julie Brockish take Saudi Aramco students on a Habitat trip, they tell the young people that they’re also building something for themselves: a foundation for a compassionate life, and a new direction that will influence their choices going forward.

Julie Brockish and Peter Geszti confer on the next day’s build. Geszti, who works for Habitat, was the construction site engineer in Hungary.

It’s an observation that truly resonates after the experience, among leaders and students alike. Far from just a summer vacation project, the students remember their Habitat trip as life-changing. Here, 18-year-old Asha Benedyczak, now a high school senior at St. Michael’s University School in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and 19-year-old Shahzad Mahmood, a first-year finance major at Brunel University in London who attended Bahrain International School at the time of the trip, tell what the Csurgó, Hungary, experience meant to them.

ASHA BENEDYCZAK: “I chose the Habitat trip because I felt I could show that there are people in the world who care. With war and disaster all around us making every-thing seem dark and grim, we were like a tiny light shining and letting others know that there is hope. And I gained skills for the workplace, like a better work ethic and the tools to get along with people. Most of all, I gained the experience of a different culture and a lot more friends.

“This trip definitely boosted my spirits. Walking down a hallway at school, I feel that I’ve done something with my life and made a small difference in the world. I’m in a lot more service activities now, and I go in with a better attitude. Habitat makes you want to do things in your own community, as well.

“I think the most memorable thing for me was when the families said they could finally see their houses coming up. It wasn’t just a dream anymore.

“I don’t feel like I contributed enough; I wanted to stay longer and help out more.”

Asha Benedyczak,at left, painted the Habitat logo on the storage shed at the Hungary build site. She is with project engineer Peter Geszti of Habitat.

SHAHZAD MAHMOOD: “I chose to participate in the Habitat trip because I thought it would be nice to do something outside the norm, something fun, plus have the opportunity to meet other people from different backgrounds. And it was fun; we visited historic places, and, on our last day, we had dinner with the families and tried traditional gypsy dances. I made a lot of friends and got reacquainted with another boy whom I hadn’t seen in four years, even though we live on the same street!

“But Habitat has changed the way I think about life. It has made me more conscious of other options — that there are loads of things to do other than sit in front of the TV. I gained a lot of practical experience in joinery (a carpentry skill). More than that, though, seeing other people happy made me feel that I had made a difference in someone’s life.

“Hungary is a topic I talk about most with my friends, because we learned so much from it. I hope that I can help raise awareness for the Global Village project, and that maybe more people will join.”

Aramco Expats