Our programs have touched more than 330,000 lives worldwide. Here are just a few of our stories.

China

Xing Dayan

Their lives had been completely uprooted.

A Training

A training in Luorong, a village in Sichuan China, which was devastated by an earthquake.

Technical Assistance

Training homeowners to make sure their new homes are built properly.

Xiao Qianghui

“Before Build Change came, I thought I would be living in this tent for the rest of my life.”


Du Sisters

Two women lay out their new homes with the help of Build Change engineers.

Yang Shifu

Yang Shifu was chatting with a friend when a massive earthquake struck on May 12, 2008.

Colombia

Jorge Prada

The first of many retrofits in Colombia

Maria Amalia Suarez

Maria worked with Build Change and our partners to retrofit her home in Bogotá.

Haiti

Noncent Arnold

“We never used to worry about following construction codes, nobody really cared. Now I make sure we always do.”

Fred Elicart

His concrete blocks are 3 times stronger than before training.

Fleurinat Murat

Block-making in Haiti

Nazaire

“I’m extremely proud of what I do and I’m not prepared to build anything that I think won’t be safe.”

Benisette Pierre Louis

“Thanks to Build Change I have a solid and safe house now.”

Nicolas Chevelon

Word spread that there was a block maker in Delmas 32 able to produce high-quality concrete blocks…

Bernard Eloud

“I don’t want to build bad things anymore.”

Lems Tressie

Lems Tressie is one of thousands left unemployed by the 2010 earthquake.

Gerald Clerge

“Its weight was too heavy! That is why it collapsed and why I lost my leg.”

Oramene Lamarre

Oramene has been able to resume her sewing business and is providing for her family again.

Jean Vanel Saintius

When I first started working on these projects, I thought the engineers were crazy.”

Pierre Rene

“People are very aware of the need to build safer, especially those who were victims of the last earthquake.”

Monique Lexy

Monique Lexy, her husband and their six children saw their lives turn upside-down in minutes.

Elizabeth and Civil

Elizabeth Senelia and Civil Senel have a three-story house with 45 people living in it.

Mirlande Joseph

It took 25 seconds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake to destroy Mirlande Joseph’s home.

Moise

“I have found this training extremely useful. I learned new things that I can use every day in my work.”

Gerta Alerte

“Your training is great, and you should keep up your excellent work.”

Indonesia

Erwin the Builder

“I feel tremendous satisfaction when I am able to build safe homes for people to live in.”

Rusi Saryuni

“I will be able to survive and run this business by myself. I believe women can do what men can do.”

Eva

“Now I can breathe easily knowing my house is earthquake-resistant.”

Brickmakers and Business

“Now I know why my business did not work. I had no idea of the actual cost for bricks that I produced.”

Busri & Surmaini Bapak

“Before, every time I produce bricks about 50 out of 25,000 bricks were broken. But now I never find broken bricks in my production.”

Nepal

Dilli Prasad Poudel

Dilli Prasad has successfully completed his house, and the whole family is very happy to live in a seismic resistant and beautiful house.

Ishwari Majhi

Ishwari Majhi’s house was damaged in the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, but was left standing. She worked with Build Change to retrofit her house.

The Homeowners of Bethanchok

Many houses in Bethanchok village of Kavre district in Nepal were damaged in the 2015 earthquake. Hear from 3 homeowners who worked to retrofit their homes with Build Change.

Shree Krishna Majhi

Shree Krishna was one of the first homeowners trained in Bhimtar village after the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal.

Dharmendra Mandal

Dharmendra Mandal is one of our Site Engineers in Nepal, working with the community to build back safer.

Philippines

Helen & Eusi Raloso

This family sheltered 17 of their neighbors during a massive typhoon that struck just two months after they finished building their new Build Change-certified home.

Toribio Dado-acon

Toribio Dado-acon

“My house before the typhoon was made of wood. Now that my house is concrete, I am not afraid of another typhoon.”

Lilia Caberio

Lilia Caberio

“I was excited to make my new home more beautiful, so I added some flowering plants and put some accessories inside.”

Lilia Caberio

Edna and Eric Doctolero

Edna says that the retrofit program helped the family “to not worry about disasters anymore. It also helped us prepare for the future of our kids. Build Change is a big blessing for us and it totally helped our family in so many ways.”