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"These people don't need charity; they need a way to help themselves," Jordan told Millard. Together they decided to set up a corporation funded by donations. The capital would go for land and building materials. The corporation would erect simple, decent houses and sell them at cost. The buyers would make a minimal down payment and monthly interest-free mortgage payments that would go back into the fund for more houses.

The buyers themselves would be encouraged to put hundreds of hours of sweat equity into their own houses and to invest time in the construction of a neighbor's house.

Excited by the idea, Millard and Linda gathered up the children and moved to Jordan's Koinonia Farm. Building would start at the farm, on land it already owned. Millard laid out 42 half acre lots and began touring to raise money and recruit volunteers. Letters to Koinonia Farm supporters around the country brought in thousands of dollars.

Millard hired contractors to lay the foundations and install plumbing and wiring. The price of the first house, which included three bedrooms and a modern kitchen, was about $6,000. The buyers were Bon and Emma Johnson, who lived with their children in a nearby shack.

At last Millard was certain that he had found his calling. By 1972 his first 27 houses were up and occupied. Many of the families had never lived in a warm house with indoor plumbing.

Millard wondered if the idea blossoming in Georgia might flower elsewhere. So he accepted a three-year assignment from the Christian Church to launch the building of 114 houses in Zaire, Africa. Linda and the children accompanied him.
When they returned to Americus in 1976, Millard had a mental blueprint for an international assault on poverty housing. He called it Habitat for Humanity.

Like the Koinonia project, Habitat would be financed by donations and buyers' monthly payments without a penny of government funds.

参考译文

乔治告诉米勒德：“这些人不需要施舍，他们需要的是一种能够帮助他们脱困的方法。”他们决定一起建立一个自愿捐助机构。募集的资金将用于购买土地和建筑材料。这个机构将建造一些物美价廉的房子，以成本价出售，买者只需付很少的首付，余下的按月分配付清，不计利息，收回的钱用于建更多的房子。他们鼓励买房者以劳力入股的形式建造自己和他人的房子。

这个想法令富勒夫妇激动无比，他们带上孩子搬到了乔丹的科诺尼亚农场。房子的建造将从农场上已有的土地上开始。米勒德规划出42块，每块面积为半英亩的土地，然后便开始四处奔走去筹钱和招募志愿者。写给全国各地科诺尼亚农场支持者的信件为他们筹到了数千美金。

米勒德雇佣承包商打地基、安装管道和电线。第一套三室一厨的房子售价为6000美元左右。买主是邦和埃玛.约翰逊，他们和孩子们原来就住在附近的简陋房子里。

米勒德确信他终于找到了自己的使命。1972年，他的首批27套房子建成并入住了。其中有许多家从来没有住过这么温暖的还装有下水管道的房子。

米勒德不知道在佐治亚州成功的这个例子，在其他地方能否成功。于是他接受了基督教会派给他的一项为期三年的任务：在非洲的扎伊尔建造114所房子。琳达和孩子们依然陪伴着他。

1976年当他们回到亚美利亚克斯时，米勒德的脑海中已经有了一个志在解决全世界穷人住房问题的蓝图，他管这个计划叫“人类之家”。

如同在科诺尼亚的工程一样，人类之家工程所需资金将来自于捐款和购房者每月的还款，而不需要政府的任何资助。

词汇释义

1.donation n. 捐赠物, 捐款, 捐赠

例句：

The association received the money as a donation.
协会将那笔钱作为捐款收下了。

2.mortgage n. 抵押, 约束性义务, 抵押借款

例句：

repay one's mortgage in monthly instalment
每月分期付款偿还抵押借款

3.shack n. 棚房(窝棚)

例句：

The boy makes a shack out of the old board in the backyard.
男孩们在後院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

4.assignment n. 分配,功课,任务,被指定的(课外)作业;(分派的)任务,委派

例句：

He is the best man who can finish the assignment.
他是能完成这项任务的最佳人选。

5.Humanity n. 人类；人性;人道;慈爱

例句：

Such a man is a stain to humanity.
这种人是人类的耻辱。