One Giving World Builds Homes in Cambodia with Help from Primary Residential Mortgage
SALT LAKE CITY, UT — SEPTEMBER 12, 2007 — Utah non-profit foundation One Giving World, working in partnership with NGO Tabitha Cambodia, led a team of 20 international volunteers this summer in building homes for Cambodian families. During the course of two weeks in June, the volunteers successfully built 6 homes at a cost of $860 each. This year's Tabitha Cambodia house building fund was made possible by several generous donors, including support from Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. PRMI co-founder Jeff Zitting also made the trip to Phnom Penh and assisted in building the homes.
"Tabitha Cambodia works in partnership with the very poorest families in Cambodia to create economic self reliance through savings," says Rhiannon Lawrence, Co-Founder and Executive Director of One Giving World. "Thanks to the contributions of our gracious donors, we partnered with many deserving families this year. I am honored when companies donate blood, sweat, and tears in addition to a financial contribution. Jeff Zitting was an appreciated addition to our house building volunteer team. I am so grateful to our contributors for standing with these families as they take the steps to a better life through a process that gives dignity and respect."
Tabitha Cambodia helps the people of Cambodia earn income through the creation and sale of cottage industry goods (silk goods, metal goods, etc.). Program participants are then taught to save their earnings through a micro savings program. Tabitha pays 10% interest every 6 weeks to the enrolled families, and 100% of donors' contributions, such as PRMI's, go towards the interest payment. Families then use their savings to purchase homes and other items that will improve their quality of life; it typically takes 5-7 years to save for a house.
In 2006, over 823 volunteers from around the world helped Tabitha Cambodia build 376 houses for 376 families.
"Owning a home isn't just the American dream, it's the dream of families and individuals around the world," says David Zitting, President and CEO of PRMI. "We're proud to have played a small part in making those dreams a reality and hope to play an even bigger role in the future."
ABOUT ONE GIVING WORLD
One Giving World is a Utah-based non-profit that supports non-governmental organizations and other groups in the vision of global economic self reliance. Each year, One Giving World takes a group of volunteers to work with Tabitha Cambodia in building houses for Cambodian families. The organization also works with Pillows for Peace and The Great Life Foundation.
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