Rose's Diamond

Woman Helped By Habitat For Humanity To Find Diamond


Rose Elembo is a 43 year old woman. But she’s not just a woman, she's a mother. But she’s not just a mother, she’s a survivor.

Rose looks like an average middle age African American woman. She is average height with dark brown hair with some being a lighter brown. Her dark brown eyes look gently and caringly at her children. She wears American style clothing and stands in her soon to be done home. Most wouldn’t notice her in the mix of people priming, painting, trimming, sawing, and staining.

She is a woman who has learned to overcome grief. A woman who has learned to survive against all odds. A woman who has learned to be strong and to always take care of her family.

But what takes you by surprise is her voice. She has a strong accent and she isn’t completely fluent in English. Even though she makes grammar mistakes she isn’t letting it stop her from buying a house through Habitat for Humanity.

Diamonds are known to be found in Africa but a home is not. Because of the civil war the family home has become five times rarer than a diamond. A family home is Rose’s diamond that she has been searching for.

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization created by Millard Fuller with his wife Linda in 1976. According to their website they seek to “eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.” They build homes from the foundation up and provide affordable mortgage payments.

A new home with plenty of room for her family is something Rose never even dreamed of since she is originally from Sudan, Africa. There she was married. But as many before her had experienced, her husband was killed during this bloody civil war. Rose, a refugee, traveled from camp to camp for eight years. During this difficult time her baby died. This left her with five children to take care of and no husband.

The diamond. The diamond. Where can Rose find her diamond? Where is the home where she can raise her children in peace? “In Africa we are lazy. The rich will stay rich. The men marry multiple women. Only men who go to church marry only one woman. The rich do not help others or help the country. In Africa we are known for gold and diamonds. Sometimes you can find large diamonds.”

Rose was supported by a church to get to the United States. Rose landed in Baltimore. Then for a few years she lived in Omaha. Then she came to Lincoln where she presently resides.

She was told about Habitat for Humanity by a friend who they had helped. Habitat for Humanity could do nothing without the help of volunteers and the donations of money and material. Because of theses things, they have been able to build simple houses alongside the homeowners.

Volunteers are painting, trim is being put on the edges of the doorways, and Rose’s children are staining wood. The floor has white spots where paint had dribbled onto the floor and a thin layer of sawdust. Pieces of wood and stirring sticks are on the floor as well. Paint trays are being filled with more paint. Stools are being moved. Wire is sticking out of soon to become light switches. In the basement the ceiling hasn’t been covered yet. The pipes and wiring are in full view.

The air is getting hotter as the morning goes on. Sweat has soaked the volunteer’s shirts and sweat is crawling down their faces with small drops clinging to pieces of hair. But still they continue working with cheerful hearts and warm smiles.

A 60 year old woman with brown hair and dark eyes, Dianna Wright, is one of the volunteers cutting Rose’s diamond, “You get out of life what you put into it.” She also said, “It is incredibly rewarding to see the smiles.”

Today, Habitat for Humanity has built 350,000 homes around the world, giving more than 1.75 million people a place to call home.

Rose is another person in this world who has been helped by Habitat for Humanity but she is also another person who has shown the world no dream is impossible to achieve. Look at where Rose has come from and where she is now but you’ll still see she is still pushing on to accomplish more. She is at the point where her diamond is almost cut to perfection.


Habitat for Humanity