Words from Jane Since I arrived at Associa��o Humanit�ria Habitat, in June 2000, there as been one person that has marked me, for her humanism and total commitment and devotion to helping others. That is Jane Silverman. Every time that things went crazy in the office, during this stressful Summer, and that the organisation seemed to be falling apart, nothing done of what was supposed to be done, she would always raise her voice to bring us down to the reason why we are here in the first place: this is all about the families. I remember once when we were debating the need for volunteers and the need for funds, despairing over the fact that we could not get them. She simply said that she had woken up in the middle of the night, thinking that �hey! It�s not that Associa��o Humanit�ria Habitat is failing in its purposes. What is happening is that the families are not getting their houses done! It�s not about us, but about them� Somehow, that wording put it all in a different dimension. There is no time to think about failures, but even the word failure itself does not apply. We have an objective: to help the twelve families in Palmeira, and we cannot stop until that is fulfilled � it can take more or less time, with more or less funds, but there is no way we can stop trying, because it is for the well-being of these families that we are working in the first place. Anyway, Jane is this amazing person that last nigh send me an email with, again, thoughts that had come to her head. We need volunteers badly, as we have since the beginning of the project and, again, people in the office are despairing. So she confided me some words that I am sure she will not mind if I share with you. They are beautiful, strong, and they state, from the heart, what this project is all about: �(...)Local firms HAVE given building materials and discounts on construction supplies. Local professionals have given generously of their time in providing professional work of top quality at no cost. Local businesses have donated food and beverages for volunteers and for our celebration week �Building on Faith�. The Board and staff of the Associa�ao Humanit�ria Habitat, the HFHI staff who are still here, and the families who will move into the houses appreciate all that has been given, but without more hands to help with the actual construction, and to reach into their pockets to make donations, these families will spend still another winter in unacceptable housing. But it�s not �the Portuguese Way� to go help someone you don�t even know! It Is the Portuguese way to help a neighbor. It is the Portuguese way to help family. In this 21st century, our neighborhood is constantly growing, our family is becoming the entire world. Portuguese have understood that the people of Timor Lorasae are a part of their family. Can we not also accept the people of our own Conselho as family? As neighbors? (...) I was awake last night hearing the wind and rain and thinking of these families in Palmeira and other parts of Portugal whose roofs were leaking over their beds, who had rain blowing in through windows whose frames are broken. Imagine the distress of a father whose children are sleeping under leaking roofs, of a mother who must put all four of her children into one bed because there is not space for another in her �house�. Think of going through the rain to draw water from a well in the garden. And right beside your poor dwelling is a beautiful new house. . .�
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