Habitat for Hilarity

The Habitat for Humanity, an organization affiliated with former president Jimmy Carter that affords and promotes low-cost housing, has decided that it would be a great idea to construct a theme park at their world headquarters in Americus, Georgia. The proposed theme park would have its visitors travel through a depiction of the world’s worst slums from Asia and Africa to Central America and the United States. Then it will deliver the visitor to such attractions as the “brick laying exhibit” and the “nail pounding display.” This is a concept that I am sure will leave the Disney Corporation shaking in their boots.

The theme park would afford its visitors a first hand look at a second hand rendition of slums that exist around the world ala the Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida. Each of the areas of the park would be dedicated to a different part of the world where poverty exists for whatever reason. Although the idea of educating the public on the urgency of helping those who are in need of housing in any form is a compassionate idea, the concept of devoting a “theme” park to issue while spotlighting the good that Habitat for Humanity does is poorly thought out at best.

I can see it now. As you walk down Main Street in ‘Slumland’ there will be vendors selling “mystery meat” and rice from the Road Kill Café that was cooked over the engines of disabled cars and 55-gallon drums full of discarded scrap wood. Balloons made of discarded trash bags will be filled with methane for the children that visit. And at 5pm a parade of bag ladies and ranting lunatics will proceed down Main Street dispensing baubles attained over the years on their way to the soup kitchen where everyone is invited for a wonderful protein enriched beef flavored stew.

But seriously, and poverty and homelessness is quite the serious issue, when one puts this idea into motion the absurdity of the whole thing starts to take shape. How many families are going to be elated to spend their hard-earned vacation money to visit Slumland? Although Millard Fuller, the founder of the non-profit organization believes that as many as 70,000 people will visit in the first year of operation, I can assure you that the number who will visit will be considerably less. I find it very hard to believe that the spouse who suggests a family vacation to ‘Slumland’ is going to survive the day without getting a frying pan to the head from the other spouse for making the kids cry.

In a time when funding is tight for charitable and non-profit organizations, wouldn’t it be a better idea to take the money earmarked for this concept and apply it to the mission at hand: helping those in need? The Habitat for Humanity has made a difference in so many people’s lives one has to wonder why they would move on from a successful formula. By creating a conceptualized theme park of slums around the world is to add staff, overhead, insurance coverage for those who work there, utility bills, liability insurance coverage for visitors, etc. The list can go on and on and each item to the list costs money, money that could be spent on housing for those who need it, which is the organizations mission.

Who ever the boob is that came up with the ‘Slumland’ concept should step down immediately and simply fade away. This boob is exactly what is wrong with a lot of charity organizations today. Of course, I have to doubt this is a Jimmy Carter idea. Even he wouldn’t make such a poor fiscal decision. Perhaps they made the grave error of have hiring Jim Baker to tend to their “flock.” The tears should be coming at any minute.

From the UK Independent:

Slumming it - the theme park that will recreate sheer poverty

By James Palmer

02 June 2003

It will be the world's newest slum, built to order, and it will be based on some of the planet's worst in Africa, Asia and Central America.

But the model shanty town, sprawling over 6.5 acres (2.6ha), is not being built to accommodate the poorest of the poor; it is intended to educate the richest of the rich.

The latest US theme park, opening in Georgia this week, will give many Americans an unprecedented insight into how "the other half" lives.

The park has been created by Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit group that builds low-cost housing, at its headquarters in Americus. Millard Fuller, its founder, expects the Global Village and Discovery Centre to attract up to 70,000 tourists in its first year.

Devoid of the rides and rollercoasters of the typical American theme park, children will get their thrills in the Global Village by making bricks and tiles in mock squalor, and discovering - albeit briefly - what it would be like to live in a scorpion-infested shack.

"Essentially, it's a theme park for poverty housing," said Mr Fuller. "You'll come out of the centre and walk right into a slum. You'll see the kind of pitiful living conditions so many people in the world have."

Visitors will also see examples of the homes Habitat has built for poor nations. "We think we'll recruit a lot of volunteers this way," Mr Fuller said.

http://www.habitat.org/newsroom/NewsReleases/gvdc_grandopening05.05.03.html

Habitat for Humanity International to Open 'Global Village' Tourist Attraction June 7 in Americus, Ga.

AMERICUS, Ga., May 13, 2003--In dilapidated poverty shacks of many African countries,

the monsters in the closet are real scorpions and snakes that threaten children as they sleep.

In the thousands of Habitat for Humanity homes built to replace such shacks, solid walls, leak-free roofs and no-interest mortgages offer a new beginning for African families living in poverty who work side-by-side with Habitat volunteers to realize their dream of stable shelter.

At Habitat for Humanity International's Global Village & Discovery Center, opening June 7 in Americus, Ga., visitors can see first-hand the housing transformation that liberates families living in poverty around the world. In the 6-acre attraction, guests travel to the Habitat homes of 15 countries in Africa, Asia and Central America and participate in hands-on activities such as brick and tile making. The village eventually will expand to 35 houses, including those from poor European and South American regions, all with different building styles that demonstrate environmentally and culturally appropriate housing.

Grand-opening festivities from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will feature international food and music, children's activities, storytelling, tours and a dedication by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, a long-time Habitat for Humanity volunteer whose home in Plains, Ga., is just 10 miles from the center. The Americus attraction features:

* Five guest areas, including a Visitor Welcome Center; an International Marketplace with Theater, Galleries, Marketplace Store and Exploration Center; a "Living in Poverty" housing exhibit; the Global Village of 35 Habitat houses (15 houses to be completed by opening day); the Experience area where families can learn how to make bricks and tiles.

* Detailed descriptions of how Habitat homes are built globally at costs ranging from $2,900 to $4,300, including a hurricane-resistant stone home in Haiti, a Guatemalan house of concrete and steel, a pressed-earth brick home in Kenya and a wood home on stilts in Papua, New Guinea.

* Hosts and guides who describe the lives and customs of families around the world and re-create scenes with guests that include tribal welcomes in Ghana or villager meetings in Fiji.

* Opportunities for visitors to plan a Global Village volunteer vacation to one of 80 countries or to purchase and inscribe a brick for the Donor Recognition Plaza.

The Global Village & Discovery Center is a valued addition to the rich cultural, historical and heritage attractions of southwest Georgia. Within 20 miles of the Global Village are President Jimmy Carter's home and museum in Plains, the Andersonville National Monument, the National POW Museum and many homes, hotels, churches and other buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. The SAM Shortline excursion train travels a route from Cordele, Ga. to Archery (President Carter's boyhood home) with stops at the Georgia Veterans State Park, the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum in Leslie, the Global Village & Discovery Center in Americus and Plains.

Founded by Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda, in 1976, Habitat for Humanity International is an ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing. With its affiliates in 3,000-plus communities in 87 nations, Habitat has built more than 125,000 homes with partner families with no-profit, zero-interest mortgages. The new Global Village & Discovery Center attraction is funded separately from the home-building mission through designated gifts and contributions.

The Global Village & Discovery Center at 601 W. Church St. will be open from 9 a.m. to dusk Monday through Saturday and from 1 p.m. to dusk on Sunday, with closing time varying seasonally. Admission is by suggested donation of $5 for adults, $3 for students 6 and older and seniors. Special arrangements are available for groups. No donation is suggested for children under age 6. For more information, call 1-800-422-4828 X2655 or visit www.habitat.org.

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