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The Ricky Martin Foundation and Habitat for Humanity recently announced the completion of their partnership to restore 224 new and rehabilitated houses for tsunami-affected families in Thailand ahead of the second anniversary of the Dec. 26 disaster.
“Through the generosity of Ricky Martin and his foundation, we were able to leverage the funds to improve the lives of hundreds of families with good housing, upgraded water and sanitation and enhanced livelihood opportunities,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International in a statement Thursday.
Latin pop star Ricky Martin formed an alliance with the Christian housing ministry following a visit to Thailand in January 2005 where he met families that had lost everything, including family members who were primary care providers.
“The priority was to see that families, especially those with young children, were able to move out of tent camps, where they were in many case in danger, and into good permanent housing,” explained Martin, whose foundation advocates for children’s rights, according to Habitat.
The first Habitat-Ricky Martin Foundation house was dedicated in July 2005 in Phang Nga province.
“Working with Habitat for Humanity, we were able to move 60 families into brand new homes in a matter of months, and the effect that this had on their lives was again, life changing, but this time for the better,” said Martin, referring to the 60 houses built in Phang Nga province.
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“It was incredible…I saw that by working together, the Ricky Martin Foundation and Habitat for Humanity provided not only shelter, but more importantly hope, to some of the most vulnerable citizens, the children, and their families,” Martin concluded.
Habitat for Humanity has helped more than 700 tsunami-affected families in Thailand to construct improved housing. Habitat’s tsunami-recovery program has affected more than 6,000 families in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Two years ago, a magnitude-9 earthquake shook the Indian Ocean and generated 33-ft-high waves claiming 223,000 lives. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India were some of the most-affected countries.
