Decent and affordable place to call home, well built, with good public services and a decent place, always gives happiness and healthy life to the inhabitants of any place.
If you wonder what should be taken into account to have a house and a suitable environment? We present it to you in 3 steps: location, environment and access to community infrastructure, services and equipment.
Step 1: Location of the house. It is the land where the house is built, surrounded by physical characteristics (relief, type of soil, natural elements on the ground and with a particular climate). It also includes the entire human-built environment: other homes, buildings, infrastructure such as streets, roads, parks, public services (electricity, water or gas networks).
Take into account the distance and ease of transportation to work, to go to school, shop for food, hospitals; as well as other important places and services that allow you to live.
Step 2: Environment of the house. Let’s start by defining the environment, it is everything that surrounds the house (the neighbors, the neighborhood, the grocery store, the park, etc.) and the public or private services it receives (health, education, security, electricity, water and area commercial). It depends on the environment and climate (temperature, rain, plants and animals) and the risks or dangers in the place (landslide or flood, garbage, noise and other sources of contamination).
A healthy environment requires that we take care of nature and that we manufacture houses, streets, sidewalks and other buildings as “God commands”.
Step 3: Access to community infrastructure, services and equipment. The entry and exit of housing, public and private establishments, and basic services (health, education, water, and sanitation) must be easy and safe. The community area for neighborhood roads, sidewalks, bus stops, streets, containers, to have fun and play sports, must be free of barriers.
It is important to highlight that, to be safe, the house must be on firm ground and where the wind, rain and other natural threats do not harm. The house should be away from chemical contaminants that affect health, such as those from industry (gases, fumes or liquids) or from solid and liquid waste dumps; exposure to physical pollutants such as noise (from factories or industries, from roads, from sporting or recreational events, airports, etc.) or from high-voltage power lines and cell phones.
It is necessary that the design of the house is done so that these damages are not dangerous for people. A good example is that of building the house on stilts, so that water does not enter the house. The vegetation in the environment of the house, trees, plants and flowers, green areas, improve the weather conditions, since it absorbs exposure to the sun and the wind; It also feeds the water of the earth and gives beauty to the place.
It is very important that the house has spaces for cooking, interior lighting, sanitation facilities and a laundry area, a garbage can, a sewage drain and public lighting.
Decent place is the best for a healthier environment. It allows the contributions of various community, private and public actors to be combined, while favoring community life and good coexistence between people.
At Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic, we bet that everyone has a decent place to live and we are committed to changing the lives of those who do not have a space to call home. Join our cause and support us so that more people have a decent home, you can be an individual donor or add your company.
through shelter we empower
