July 26, 2005, was a day that Mumbai and environs will never forget. The economic engine of India sputtered to a halt as the city, formerly known as Bombay, drowned in a torrential 37-inch rainfall. More than 1,000 people died as the poor-to-nonexistent drainage network and over-silted rivers failed to absorb the monsoon downpours.

Protected from the flooding by virtue of living on higher ground in the residential neighborhoods near work, the Americans working at the Consulate General were hardly prepared for the grim stories and images relayed to us by the news and our local staff, who, in the worst instances, lost nearly all their possessions as their homes succumbed to the deluge.

The traditional agricultural villages of Raita and Bhifol, precariously perched on the edge of rapidly expanding Mumbai, about a two-hour drive from the consulate, were submerged under nearly seven feet of water by the Ulhas River. The devastation was still visible a year later. For the poorest villagers, the cost of rebuilding even a simple home might have meant financial ruin, as they would have to borrow at high interest rates against unpredictable harvests.

It was to assist these villagers that Habitat for Humanity India, Rotary Club International and the American Consulate General teamed up to provide new housing. Rotary and Habitat provided high-quality building materials, and the villagers paid with "sweat equity" by building their own homes. With the assistance of gung-ho volunteers from the consulate, the new houses got built before the onset of the new monsoon.

Over the course of four Saturdays, 35 consulate volunteers –both Locally employed and American staff, led by Consul General Michael Owen and his wife Annerieke – traveled to the villages for long, hot days of mixing and pouring cement, fetching water, spackling, painting and trying not to collapse from exhaustion.

The villagers – old and young, male and female, many without shoes and gloves – carried out their work with a dignity and sense of purpose matched only by their friendly disposition. As the volunteers painted the last few houses, while the first sprinkles of the new monsoon arrived, they could not help but match the villagers' smiles, knowing that soon some families would call these houses "home."

While Habitat for Humanity usually sells its new homes—financed with affordable, no-interest loans—funding for these particular houses was provided by Maharashtra state flood recovery assistance, making this a genuine public-private partnership.

This team effort was aimed not only at building 100 new homes, but also at raising the profile of Habitat for Humanity ahead of the October visit to India of Habitat’s most illustrious volunteer, former President Jimmy Carter. Each year since 1984, he and his wife Rosalynn give one week of their time to Habitat projects.

The 2006 Jimmy Carter Work Project took place Oct. 29–Nov. 3 in a village near Lonavala, two hours from Mumbai. The JCWP brought 2,000 volunteers from around the world to construct 100 homes. Consul General and Mrs. Owen volunteered the entire week, and 140 U.S. Navy sailors and officers whose port visit to Mumbai coincided with the building project joined in the effort on two days.

The JCWP was the first annual event of Habitat for Humanity India’s five-year campaign to provide better housing for 250,000 low-income Indians over the next years. Habitat estimates that 41 million Indians are homeless and that 60 percent of the 180 million dwellings in the country are temporary or in dilapidated condition.