Speech by partner family member Geroina Lao at her house dedication

Friday 29 January 2016

“After a long wait, this is it.

“First of all, we’d like to thank Dad up above for giving this precious gift to our family here in New Zealand.

“And to Habitat, for making our dream come true.

“Thank you Warren, Warwick, Jane, Katherine, Dellwyn, Conrad, Paul, and the Board of Directors of Habitat.

“And also big thank you to our dear builders, Mike, William, and Carla – you are so wonderful. Thank you for being so nice in so many ways. You are important. Your hard work has really meant so much to us.

“And also to the Habitat ReStore, thank you to those people there: LJ, Natalie, and the other volunteers who were our buddies before, doing their sweat equity. We really enjoyed it there, and we also learned a lot.

“And to our sponsors, of course: GHD.

“And to all the volunteers who made this house realised: From the bottom of our hearts, a big thank you.

“From now on, we can live in a warm and comfortable house. Since we came here from the Philippines almost nine years ago, we have never experienced a warm house. We’re staying in an old and very damp house – so freezing. Especially during winter, it’s a hard time for us, when winter arrives. The kids are always sick, and everybody gets asthma. We didn’t have that in the Pihilippines; only when we came here to New Zealand.

“So thank you so much, Habitat, again; you have made a big difference in our lives. From an old house to a brand new house! And I know that it’s been a long wait, but it’s really been worth the wait. Here it is now! Thank you so much.”

ENDS

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