EZRA MILLSTEIN PHOTOGRAPHY

Habitat Africa/Middle East

A child peers through the slats of a church, at a Habitat for HumanityUganda training.© Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
   
Ayediida Mbagaineki is a 56-year-old widow who has taken in four grandchildren and a nephew; they live in her new house, which she completed with the help of two loans from Habitat for Humanity Uganda. Her 26-year-old daughter, Asaba, also lives with her. Theyused to live in a deteriorating mud hut; now they have a spacious home, and they use the old mud huts on the property as shelter for their goats and chickens. © Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
   
Harriet Busingye's neighbor. She and her husband Josephat Byarugaba used to live in a traditional mud-and-daub hut that was almost falling down. Habitat for Humanity Uganda’s Masindi branch provided the family with a microfinance loan to help them build a new house. The couple has paid off the loan, thanks to Josephat’s earnings as a sugarcane farmer. They are using a second loan to finish the house, and Josephat hopes to use a third loan to install solar panels.© Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
     
  
Gilbert Byensi is the 13-year-old nephew of Ayediida Mbagaineki. Mbagaineki took Gilbert in because his mother had died, and his stepmother was not treating him well. Mbagaineki is a 56-year-old widow who has also taken in four grandchildren; they live in her new house, which she completed with the help of two loans from Habitat for Humanity Uganda. Her 26-year-old daughter, Asaba, also lives with her. Theyused to live in a deteriorating mud hut; now they have a spacious home, and they use the old mud huts on the property as shelter for their goats and chickens. © Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
   
Andrew Makwiti and his wife Juliet Aseere have adopted seven orphans, including 7 year-old Irene Mela (pictured). The couple’s community nominated them for a house through Habitat Uganda’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children program. Andrew helped to build their new house, providing materials such as bricks, concrete and even food for the local workers who helped in the construction. The family says the house is a vast improvement over their former cramped, grass-thatched mud house, which used to be “thick as dust” with fleas and rats. The family talks of their improved standing in the community, and the bonds they have formed with other couples who have taken in orphans and vulnerable children: “We are like brothers and sisters,” Juliet says.© Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
   
Habitat homeowner Ibrehem Mradat. His family's old home was small, but they didn’t want to leave their convenient location near family. So, with help from Habitat for Humanity Jordan, they added an extra room, kitchen and indoor bathroom. They completed the expansion four years ago.© Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
     
  
Habitat for Humanity Jordan has been working in the town of Ghor Al Safi, on the shore of the Dead Sea, since 2003.© Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
   
3 year-old Ayham Mahafdha visits the construction site of his family's new Habitat house. He and his father Mohammed, mother Alia and sister Sora have had difficulty getting their landlord to repair broken windows in their rental house.© Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
   
Mohammed Mahafdha and his wife Alia (30, pictured) have 2 children: 3 year-old son Ayham and 1 year-old daughter Sora (pictured). They have had difficulty getting their landlord to repair broken windows in their rental house. Work on the family’s new Habitat home is underway.© Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein
     
  
Azeaz Khleafat stands inside his family's Habitat home, which is three weeks into construction. His family's old home has cracks in the walls, a crumbling foundation and holes in the ceiling. He thinks a wall in the kitchen would fall down if he leaned against it. He plans to knock down the old house, so that in the future he will have room to expand his new house. For now, he wants to plant some trees and a small garden there.© Habitat for Humanity International/Ezra Millstein