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IN THE AFTERMATH OF SOUDELOR
Jehovah’s Witnesses volunteers help rebuild damaged homes
Volunteers from the Jehovah’s Witnesses assist in installing the ceiling of one of two houses they built in Quartermaster Road. The houses belong to Jimmy Rabauliman and his sister-in-law Bangon Rabauliman.
(Jon Perez)
Several Jehovah’s Witnesses volunteers have been on Saipan since September where they helped in repairing several houses and rebuilding two more. The houses were either damaged or destroyed when Typhoon Soudelor hit Saipan in August last year.
Jehova’s Witnesses volunteers constructed two new houses owned by Jimmy Rabauliman and his sister-in-law Bangon Rabauliman on Quartermaster Road, while three other houses in Chinatown, Gualo Rai, and Kagman received major repairs.
Members of the local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses along with four more volunteers from Guam also helped in the minor repairs of several homes. They spent more than three months on Saipan to help in the rebuilding.
Ten more volunteers—four of which were married couples and two single men—from various countries have spent more than two months on Saipan. They came from Guam, Hawaii, California, Washington, Florida, and South Africa.
The volunteers all paid for their own airfare going to Saipan and all have been staying at homes of local members on the island. Donations given to their worldwide organization help fund the meals of the volunteers and the materials used in constructing the houses.
Mexico, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Kenya, Suriname, South Africa, and Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia are some of the countries that the volunteers have helped in various projects.
Jehovah’s Witnesses volunteers have also helped in disaster relief efforts and various community outreach projects in Japan, Brazil, Congo, Venezuela, the Philippines, Canada, Ivory Coast, Fiji, Ghana, the U.S., Argentina, Mozambique, Nigeria, Benin, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Mali, Sierra Leone, Thailand, Czech Republic, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Burundi.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses, founded in 1870 by Charles Taze Russell, has 8.2 million members spread out in the continents of Africa, North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
