President Jimmy Carter and his humanitarian connection to India

PRESIDENT Jimmy Carter is one of the most accomplished statesmen in the world, admired for his commitment to peace and his humanitarian missions around the world, including in India. The 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981, Nobel Peace Prize winner James Earl Carter Jr. spent the decades after his term as President of the United States doing good for people around the world through The Carter Center, a non-governmental humanitarian organization founded in his home state of Georgia. Through this organization and others such as Habitat For Humanity and The Elders, Jimmy Carter fought poverty, disease, homelessness and improved life for people in more than 80 countries worldwide. 

 

So soon after the passing of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, another great statesman who transformed the lives and futures of Indians for the better, the world reflects on the humanitarian side of US President Jimmy Carter and his commitment to using his life to advocate for a better life for the most disadvantaged people around the world and world peace. Some of President Jimmy Carter’s most phenomenal work would come through Habitat For Humanity, an organization founded in 1976 that works toward the alleviation of the suffering of the homeless by building affordable housing for them and helping them get on their feet by ensuring they have access to shelter, one of the most basic rights. 

 

When Jimmy Carter built 100 homes for the poor in Mumbai

Our story now turns to 2006 when President Jimmy Carter traveled to India with his wife Rosalynn Carter on a humanitarian mission with Habitat For Humanity, an organization that began its work in India in 1983 and developed a close relationship with the President the following year in 1984. Habitat For Humanity became an organization that was close to Jimmy Carter’s heart for so many reasons. It has a global reach, it serves the most forgotten and underserved populations and it allowed him to do the type of manual labor that he felt was important to really be invested and contribute to a cause – sweat equity. 

Along with more than 2,000 foreign and Indian volunteers, President Jimmy Carter began work in October 2006 on a project to construct homes for 100 low-income families in Patan village in Maharashtra. These affordable homes would go on to help these hundreds of families live better lives. But Jimmy Carter’s close connection to India began long before that – in fact, before he was even born. His mother Lillian Carter had worked with the Peace Corps and helped people in a leprosy colony in the then village of Vikhroli in Maharashtra. Early on, this inspired Jimmy Carter and led him to think about the value in serving others.

 

Jimmy Carter’s humanitarian mission around the world

Right after Jimmy Carter’s term as President concluded in 1981, he and his wife founded The Carter Center the following year in 1982. This nonprofit based in Atlanta, Georgia went on to make a massive impact around the world helping the most disadvantaged people. For example, when no one in the world wanted to tackle the Guinea worm epidemic, President Jimmy Carter implemented strategies for decades that ended up almost eradicating the dreadful disease worldwide. The Carter Center has a strong focus on poverty alleviation, disease prevention and eradication, human rights and mental health awareness.

 

Why is it important to have a home?

Habitat For Humanity was founded by an American couple who believed that everyone in the world should have access to a home. The importance of having a home includes multiple reasons. It keeps families safe, especially women who are protected and no longer vulnerable or exposed to the dangers of the streets. Having a home also gives children a safe space to study and focus on their school work. Most school dropouts occur because there is no convenient place to study and a lack of access to bathrooms. Having a home with proper sanitation reduces open defecation and stops the spread of related diseases.

 

Habitat For Humanity and their mission in India

In India, millions of families do not have access to safe housing or sanitation facilities and this places both adults and children at great risk. But this is a problem that can be solved and fixed and Habitat For Humanity has been working in India since the 1980s to give families across the country access to a safe and affordable home – and the organization’s association with President Jimmy Carter began around the same time it started its operations in India. Habitat For Humanity’s threefold mission includes giving underprivileged families access to housing, sanitation facilities and assistance in times of natural disasters. 

 

Support Habitat For Humanity

This week, as countries around the world acknowledge the selfless commitment that President Jimmy Carter had toward improving life amongst the most underprivileged worldwide, you have the chance to join his mission and support Habitat For Humanity as they continue to serve families in desperate need and improve their lives. When you support Habitat For Humanity, you help the disadvantaged access education, safety and better health, improving their chances at safer and healthier futures and bring them closer to ending the cycle of poverty. To support Habitat For Humanity:

 

Support Habitat For Humanity

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