Reply #9: The JCWP is an annual event sponsored by the Carters, [View All]

[ktowntennesseedem]

this one in India marks the 24th year I believe. The last one was in Michigan last summer, and I was fortunate enought to be a part of it that year. The event in India was already being planned then, as the JCWP alternates between the US and a foreign country each year.

I was also fortunate enough to be able to help build the first post-Katrina Habitat house in Slidell, LA, last October. Habitat has been very active in the gulf coast region since Katrina, just as they have been instrumental in helping communities devestated by the 2004 tsunami around the Indian Ocean. I've personally watched Carter work, and he does more than his fair share of labor. But his biggest impact is in his continuing support for Habitat, wherever it may be; it is a tremendous boost to the effort to eliminate sub-standard housing throughout the world.

I'm not flaming you at all, as I understand what you are saying. But poverty housing is a world-wide problem, and Habitat is an integral part of helping those people in need, both at home and abroad. Having Carter skip India that week and come to NO instead wouldn't really change the impact of the work that is already being done there. In fact, given the present situation and our falling status in the eyes of the world, having Carter visit a foreign country to help people in need might go a long way in repairing the US's reputation.