New home owners in Rankovce are waiting for the faucets to be installed

From this week on, four families in Rankovce will enjoy the access to running water in their self-built homes, which they inhabit since last Christmas.

Today, new faucets have been bought, ready to be installed. Hard-working builders and their families cannot wait for the moment they will no longer have to be carrying water in buckets to supply their homes; the only thing they will have to do is turn on the tap.

For the self-built houses of the Building Hope project to be connected to the water supply, a well needed to be built first. ETP Slovakia, with the financial contribution of the Humanitarian Program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has undertaken to build the well, and now the only thing left to do is for it to be enclosed by a fence, after which the family houses can build a connection.

The houses were financed by a microloan provided by ETP Slovakia that is being repaid in regular monthly installments. A substantial part of the microloans fund constitutes the gift of the American charitable organization Habitat for Humanity and other gifts. Quite significant contributions are being made by private donors making their donations through the web portal dobrakrajina.sk.

At present, there are nine new houses in Rankovce that are in the process of construction. They are also being built self-sufficiently by the future owners and financed by a microloan of ETP Slovakia. Assistance with the paperwork was provided by Františka Ondrášiková, the Field Social Worker of the Municipality and head of the local NGO Pre lepší život (For a Better Life). Three of the houses that our currently in the course of construction have already had their walls erected.

As it is not recommended to carry on with the construction during wintertime, the builders are purchasing the construction materials these days. „Once the material is ready, it only takes a week for the walls to be erected,“ says Ondrej Sámeľ, who has been supervising the construction from the very beginning to ensure that everything is done correctly.

Fig.:

Family homes in Rankovce are being built according to the project of the Architect Katarína Smatanová. The model is flexible to be adjusted according to the needs of each family.