Earlier this year, we shared the news about 

 that struck the island of Timor early 2021. Thanks to our amazing giving community we were able to support our partners TMC Indonesia with much needed relief and helped over 1,500 families with food and personal hygiene supplies!

As any natural disaster, Cyclone Seroja caused significant infrastructure damage, including loss of bridges, roads and entire homes. Back then we knew that these communities would need extra support for the rehabilitation process of their houses.

This is why, we have decided to partner for the fifth time with our long-standing partner TMC Indonesia and started a very ambitious rehabilitation program to help over 80 families to repair and/or build from scratch their houses. This is one of the largest projects we have decided to implement since eMite started, and it actually coincides with our 5th anniversary. We are convinced that thanks to your support we will be able to help these communities to get back on their feet and recuperate a safe place to live.

This rehabilitation program aims to follow up the relief with long-lasting care for these families. This program will be implemented in several stages. You have to take into consideration that these villages are located in very remote areas, which makes governmental and NGO’s intervention very difficult.

So, for project 43 “Homes of Love, 

” we will be rehabilitating a total of 12 houses in Pusu and Toineke villages (located in the province of East Nusa Tenggara).

In April 2021 cyclone Seroja made landfall on Timor Island in Indonesia.  The storm brought massive flooding and severe destruction to the people who live on the the island. Many lost portions of their home and some lost everything. Now is our time to help families on the island restore what the storm took from them.

Pusu, Timor, Indonesia

TMC Indonesia

Homes of Love - Pusu & Toineke, Indonesia

Our team has been working hard to catch up on schedule and has been making some good progress on building homes. The zinc roofs have been completed, and now our team is working on repairing the front of the homes.

April Update

We’ve moved on to the second phase of the rehabilitation program, with 10 houses in Pusu Village and 2 houses in Toineke Village that are being worked on. In addition, 1 house in Pusu Village has been completed! We look forward to finishing more homes for the families.

June Update

After months of battling the elements, the weather finally stabilized, which allowed our team to complete these colorful homes of love! In general, the houses have either one or two bedrooms, one family room or a living room, a terrace, and a restroom that uses a septic tank system. This configuration is a typical style of home in this region. The gracious residents were very keen and joyful to move into their new homes in mid-July.

July Update

Our Project Director, Milenita Vega, had the opportunity to visit Indonesia and check out the newly built homes & the others that will be finished in Phase 2. Here's what she had to say: "If you haven't been in the field, it is always difficult to picture what people's daily life looks like in our program locations. I have been on several field visits, each a different experience. I was very excited to visit this particular project in South East Asia. Once I arrived at Timor Island, after almost two days of traveling, I understood our partners' tremendous work. During my journey, I visited four villages, and each and every one of those was almost unreachable because of their remoteness. The communities live in villages at the top of mountains, with the nearest city being hours away. This directly impacts their quality of life and the services they can access. Most families live in modest huts constructed by themselves, making them vulnerable to natural disasters. Most of them are farmers and survive on their crops. Hauling in building materials, monitoring & reporting is virtually impossible if it's raining because the roads become muddy, bridges start collapsing, and there is severe flooding. The families told me that when Cyclone Seroja hit, they were so scared and didn't know where to go. The few clothes and belongings they had were buried under the mud or carried away by the floods. Their fields were completely destroyed, along with their livelihoods. They were left feeling hopeless and prayed for relief. Some of them moved into relatives' homes, while others spent several months at their local church waiting for a miracle. Many built temporary huts without doors or windows, and several people shared one tiny room where they cooked, ate, and slept. When they heard about Mite, an organization that could help them rehabilitate their homes, they knew their prayers were heard and thanked the Lord. Every single person I talked with is tremendously grateful for their new home. Their hope has been restored, and joy has been brought back to these communities. What you guys are doing is really transformative for these families. Thank you so much!

Every single person is tremendously grateful for their new home.

Our team is working diligently to create a stunning, high-quality video showcasing the incredible impact of your generosity on communities of Pusu & Toineke through Project 43. We can't wait to share it with you, so stay tuned!

Coming Soon: Celebration Story

Over the past several months, this community helped build homes for 75 families in 10 different villages in Indonesia — helping families who lost everything after Cyclone Seroja devastated their communities. We're excited to share stories of resilient families who now have roofs over their heads & are rebuilding their lives. Thank you for being a home builder! 