After a hard day of work or school, we go home everyday to a welcoming house, cozy with love and sheltered from the weather. It’s nothing extraordinary for the majority of people in affluent Singapore, but it’s a far-fetched hope that many homeless in Mongolia could not even dream of.

Faced with extreme temperatures and bitter winters as harsh as -40 Celsius, more than 30 percent of Mongolians who live below the poverty line face a daily struggle for survival. With no proper shelter to call home, the homeless - young and old alike, take refuge from howling winds and sandstorms in underground pipes and sewage facilities, living and sharing an environment of rubbish and stench with rodents and other homeless people.

Project Hearts for a Roof, a project by iPaLs, aims to help the disadvantaged in Mongolia build a decent roof over their heads.

Project Hearts for a Roof is a community service project to raise funds and build 4-8 houses for the needy during the expedition to Mongolia in June 2007. We are working in support of Habitat for Humanity International (www.habitat.org), a proponent in addressing a significant social issue worldwide – decent housing for all.

iPaLs is made up of a group of youths from different walks of life, keen to do their part and make a difference. We recognize that in serving the global community with our heart and hands, we make a tangible difference and improvement to the lives of the people we help, and infinitely enriching our own lives through the experience.