Local supporter goes global with Habitat
Habitat for Humanity of Huron Valley volunteer and supporter, Daniel Jahn, returned in June 2018 from his fourth Habitat Global Village trip in Mexico. Daniel started his global village trips in 2015 with a trip to New Zealand with his sister and brother- in-law. They were looking for an opportunity to travel and give back to an international community. Since 2015, Daniel has built Habitat homes in New Zealand, Indonesia, Hawaii, Mexico and Ypsilanti, Mich.
In 2016, after two Global Village trips, Daniel became the President of the Ross School of Business Habitat for Humanity Club at the University of Michigan. He knew that Habitat had a great mission that aligned with his values and wanted to give back to his local community. He lead the club for two years and worked on four homes in Michigan during that time.
His favorite memory from all of his builds has been his experience in Mexico. For eight days Daniel and a team of 14 people from the United States worked with the Habitat Mexico Affiliate and a family to build a home. The family was Abel, Eugenia and their 8-year-old daughter Brisa. Daniel fondly remembers working alongside Abel to lay brick for the home. This family waited six years to receive their home from Habitat, and Daniel and his team helped make that dream a reality.
Because this team was the first Global Village trip this village had hosted, the affiliate threw a large party for the team at the end of their build. The celebration included a parade through town, Mexican dancers, a massive piñata, and hand-made tortillas cooked on an outdoor tortilla oven. Daniel loved the immersion in culture that he finds on Habitat Global Village trips.
“Habitat is an organization that allowed me to give back to my local community and the world to create affordable housing,” said Daniel. “A large need that Habitat works fiercely to fulfill.”
We can’t thank Daniel enough for the Habitat work he has done locally and internationally. We wish him all the best in his new role with General Motors in Detroit and can’t wait to see where his next global village trip takes him!