I read the book ‘Love in the Mortar Joints’ by Mr.Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity. I was really inspired on reading this, and though should share it with you.
Hope most of us have heard of this organisation. I was in the assumption that they involve volunteers to build houses for poor and then give it to them. It seems that there is a lack of important details in my assumption.
These people organise funds and build houses for poor – this of course is true. But they simply don’t give it to the poor, but they sell it to them. The house thus purchased by the poor has to be paid as loan for 20 years in small monthly instalments. The important think is that they are interest free loans (the Economics of Jesus at work – just as in the teachings of Bible or in any great religions like Hinduism or Islam). The money that comes back is again pooled in to build more houses for poor. Of course, there is inflation. But Fuller seems to be confident of getting enough funds to do this work.
My first enlightenment: I never thought micro-finance has got anything to do with this organisation, but I found mF forms the crux of their organisation. But in a more pure form.
The next enlightenment about the organisation that I got was that they are completely faith-based organisation. The founder Mr.Millard Fuller had literally taken the concepts in Bible as told by Jesus, and has been involved in serving the poor in ‘tangible’ ways. These are bunch of people trying to live a Christain living as in the teachings of Bible in more practical way; and they are not religious fanatics. Great isn’t it!
It was really inspiring for me!
It was after a long time that I got my hands on this revolutionary book. I first read this book in my college days – never realized then that it had transformed the lives of so many.The funny part is that I never got to know the ‘weight’ of the subject, when I first took that book from my college library. The habit I had then was to read those books that had really interesting names – that’s how I came to read ‘Good Work’ by E.F.Schumacher and the like. And that is how I got my hands on ‘One straw revolution.’One of the good things that I did in my life is to read this book, not only that I started noting down some interesting points from that book on to my diary. I still preserve those notes taken in my college. And this habit of taking notes started from Fukuoka’s book. Now, if there is anything at all that I did need appreciation, this is the one – taking notes in my diary.Now here on 2009, I once again got my hands on the book from a friend’s office library. I read through the book again. And it was refreshing.Here, I once again tried to take some quotes from Fukuoka that gave me some views that requires me of re-thinking and re-examination.So, here I present to you those quotes.‘I don’t particularly like the word ‘work’. Of all animals, human beings are the only animals who have to work to live…. And I think this is the most ridiculous thing in the world….’‘It would be good to give up that way of thinking and live an easy, comfortable life with plenty of free time.’‘For human beings, a life of such simplicity would be possible if one worked to produce directly his daily necessities. In such a life, work is not work as people generally think of it, but simply doing what needs to be done.’‘To move things in this direction is my goal.’
The last two sentences, for me, hit a sixer. What do you think of it…!
I read the book ‘Love in the Mortar Joints’ by Mr.Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity. I was really inspired on reading this, and though should share it with you.
