USG Boral has announced 12 Australian-based USG Boral and Boral employees have helped to build two houses in Yogyakarta, Indonesia as part of a collaboration with Habitat for Humanity Australia.

The group travelled to Indonesia in October 2017 as part of a one-week ‘Rock the House’ project that aimed to build six houses with help from 50 Australian volunteers.

The Boral team fundraised more than $28,000 for the build and were supported by local supervising contractors and the families who will ultimately live in the new homes. The team helped to build two homes to just above door height, with 30-40m of living space and bathrooms plumbed to a septic tank. They also cleared the site, dug the footings, mixed concrete, broke up rocks, laid bricks, and positioned window and door frames.

“We worked closely with the families, using a Habitat for Humanity translator and sign language to communicate. Their homes before the build were ramshackle, with timber, thatching, dirt floors and very basic sanitation. These are poor people with multiple generations living together, including grandmothers, sons and children,” says USG Boral technical sales manager in Western Australia Emil Plej.

The fundraising money also helped to provide water and sanitation, irrigation and other amenities for the broader community.

The ‘Rock the House’ build was the second for Boral and part of the company’s ‘Building Community Resilience’ program partnership with Habitat for Humanity Australia. This is focused on disaster resilience and risk reduction in Asia.