"How time flies when you LOVE your work"

Founder & CEO Elizabeth Hausler Strand's father, mason Don Hausler, working together with Indonesian bricklayers in 2005

This is one of my dad's favorite one-liners to shout out on the construction site.

It resonates a lot with me today, on Labor Day, and the eve of Build Change's 10th anniversary.

Thank you for enabling me, and 247 coworkers from 13 countries, to do this rewarding work over the past 10 years. Scroll down to see our impact infographic.

We've helped people rebuild safe houses in five countries after seven earthquakes and one typhoon. Over 230,000 people are living and learning in safer buildings because of our work. We've trained over 22,000 people in the basics of safe construction and created over 10,500 jobs.

You've heard the stories. About Oramene Lamarre, who thought she would spend the rest of her life in a tent camp in Haiti until we retrofitted her home. About Xing Dayan, who knew she needed reinforcement over her doors but didn't know how to do it until we showed up in her village in Sichuan, China. About Nicolas Chevelon, who with our training, now runs a successful business making stronger blocks in Haiti and creating jobs. And about Ruslan AB and his wife who lost their house in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami; after we finished their house, she said simply, "now I can sleep at night". 

But perhaps the biggest and most long-lasting impact has been on our partners. We supported the Haiti government to write a national guideline on retrofitting. We have partnered with the Indonesia technical high school system to teach earthquake-resistant construction in schools. We have written three reconstruction primers for USAID and we have shifted the minds of some of the biggest NGOs toward more sustainable, homeowner-driven reconstruction programs. 

Please join me as we launch our 10 in 10 initiative. Working together, we'll empower 10 million people in emerging nations to live and learn in safe buildings and schools in the next 10 years. And, we'll work with people to build safe buildings before the disaster strikes.

Thank you and Happy Labor Day, 

Join Build Change to empower 10 million people in emerging nations to live and learn in safer schools in the next 10 years.

Please make a donation in support of our 10 in 10 Initiative today and help us reach more communities immediately.

This photo, after an earthquake in West Sumatra, Indonesia, inspired our brand colors and is a reminder that there are moments of beauty even in the aftermath of a disaster.