This summer, in the heat and humidity of rural Cambodia, sales rep Jim Horner of Sutton Group – Heritage Realty in Oshawa, Ont. helped build  13 homes for people in need, many of them poor farmers.  These were first homes for some.

Each sturdy structure was built on four stilts with sheets of corrugated steel for the roof and walls and lumber for the floors. As basic as these homes are by Canadian standards, they provide vital shelter. Horner says he was especially moved to see an older Cambodian woman arrive to move into her new home.

“All that she had in the world was a pot, a kettle and a tarp. She had no change of clothes, no pillow, no bed sheets, no nothing. It was devastating to see how so many Cambodians live compared to us. These are just poor, poor people.”

Horner became involved in this special project because of his fiancee Julia. She had adopted two children from Cambodia and belongs to an informal group of families who have similarly adopted. Every four or five years, they return to build homes and contribute to the country that gave them the gift of sons and daughters. For this trip, they raised $26,000 through golf tournaments, bake sales, yard sales and other fundraisers so they could build 13 homes at a cost of $2,000 each.

The money they raised went to Tabitha Foundation Cambodia. The charity purchases and delivers the building supplies and provides guidance for volunteers who construct the homes. In the past 14 years, 9,222 houses have been built by 12,000 volunteers from around the world.