On Sunday evening, when former president of the US and Nobel Peace laureate Jimmy Carter with wife Rosalynn in tow set foot at Malavali village near Lonavla, nearly 45 km from Pune, it was a dream come true for the family. For, 23 years after he had approached the then prime minister Indira Gandhi seeking permission for a global non-profit organisation Habitat for Humanity to work in Indian projects, on Monday, Carter and his wife will work side by side with 2,000 volunteers to build 100 homes in this village.

“India has always played a big role in the life of the Carter family. Thirtyeight years ago my mother Lilian had come here to work in Vikhroli village as a volunteer for Peace Corps to improve the lives of people,” Carter recalled.

“And now, we have been honoured to build homes in this great country,” he said, inaugurating the Jimmy Carter Work Project for 2006.

Carter, who will be here for a week, said they were grateful to the homeowner families and the volunteers. “They have done a heroic job of changing this monsoon lake into a wonderful building site. We will be honoured to work side by side with you volunteers and members of the homeowner families to complete this project. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” he said.

They will also visit Chennai and Thailand to oversee the building of homes for the tsunami-ravaged people.

He said India still ranks high on Habitat’s priority list. “Every year, for the next five years, we at the HFH India will use a major event like this week’s Jimmy Carter Work Project, as a catalyst to draw attention to the plight of millions of people in India who lack affordable, decent and safe homes,” HFH’s India CEO Peter Selvarajan said.

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