What comes to your mind when you hear the word ?environment?? It would usually be lush forests with green leaves. In other words, we often think of nature, or the efforts to protect it. Yet if we contemplate more deeply about the word ?environment?, we can discover that our natural surroundings are just a narrow sense of the word. In fact, environment refers to any surroundings that are around us. Environments could be high skyscrapers, bustling stations, to forests and parks.

           What is more interesting is that UNEP?s goal is not limited to our natural environment, as seen in its mission: "To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations." Therefore, its projects also handle man-made environments, including buildings and cities.

           Last week, I participated in a volunteer to improve these buildings and cities, and I would like to introduce it to you. The name of the campaign is ?Habitat for Humanity?. Its mission is to construct and improve homes for those who lack proper habitats. It first strated in a small town named Americus, Georgia in USA, and soon spread around the globe. One of its most outstanding contributors was President Carter, as he paid a substantial role in spreading the campaign worldwide.

           The campaign is separated into mainly two parts: construction and repair. Last week, I participated in the repair work in Paju, a city near where I live. We repaired the wallpapers and floors for a grandmother who was too sick to repair the house on her own. It really was a memorable and worthwhile, and I was especially proud of the fact that I had changed one?s life by changing her environment.

For more information, visit this website.

http://www.habitat.org/