In Kerala, 2 Teachers Built 150 Houses for Homeless People In 6 Years

2 teachers decided to start the House Challenging Project after they heard about a Class 8 student who was homeless.

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(Photo Courtesy: Twitter / @habitatforhumanity)

Two teachers decided to start the House Challenging Project in 2014, right after they heard about a Class 8 student who was homeless. Since then, they have built 150 homes over the last six years for homeless people.

The two teachers are Sister Lissy Chakkalakkal, who is the principal at the Our Ladies Convent Girls School in Kochi, and Lilly Paul. Both of them got together, raised funds, and built a home for the student.

Taking inspiration from building the first house, they continued doing that.

ANI reports that each house costs between Rs 6-10 lakh and is built on one or two cent plots. They helped 80 students in this specific school to get homes. While deciding who gets homes, they said that they prioritise people based on those who have families with women, children, widows and ailing members.

"A man named Ranjan Varghese, donated 70 cents land, the largest donation we have received, and constructed 12 houses at Vypin. If people have a culture of sharing, then we can achieve our dream of making a homeless-free society," Sister Lissy Chakkalakkal said.

She added that earlier they were focussing on building houses for those who have land. Now people are donating land for the construction of such houses for the homeless.