Volunteer Shabana Manji

Zdravstvuj (Hello in Russian) Friends! I am very excited to introduce myself and be a part of this amazing team. My name is Shabana from Calgary, Alberta. This trip to Kyrgyzstan will be my fourth Habitat for Humanity International trip. I will be 25 when we travel together, and I am currently working on my Masters degree in Educational Leadership and Management. I work with the Government of Alberta as a post secondary ambassador, as well as a non-profit called Youth Central, which empowers and engages the youth to volunteer in their local community. I love Habitat for Humanity for giving me the ability to help out internationally, volunteer in remote areas and see the world in a way only a few can... It’s a wonderful experience – and for those first timers, it will get you hooked. If you need anything or want to ask questions about tips, packing advice ETC, I am just an email or Facebook message away. Looking forward to seeing all of you in September! Facebook: Shabana RM Email: shabanaranee@gmail.com

Volunteer, Valerie Johnson

Valerie Johnson is an Associate in the Dallas office of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), working primarily in the firm's consumer and education practice areas. She is currently on externship for six months with Green Dot Public Schools, a charter management organization based in Los Angeles that specializes in school turnarounds, where she is supporting transformation efforts at the Locke cluster of high schools. Valerie graduated from Texas A&M University in 2011 with a B.B.A. in Accounting and M.S. in Marketing. During her college career, she interned in Washington DC and New York City, studied abroad in Buenos Aires, and volunteered with Operation Crossroads in a village near Cape Coast in Ghana. She also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity throughout college, and traveled on her first Global Village build this past August to Zambia. Valerie enjoys reading, classical piano, "The Colbert Report", running, Broadway musicals, and time with family and friends.

Volunteer, Kurt Newton

I spent my first 22 years in Minnesota. After Physical Therapy school I joined the US Army and actually got my first choice station in Colorado. I have spent most of the last 40+ years in Colorado. I married Amy in 1977. She and I loved mountain climbing,xc skiing and bicycling. We climbed 53 of Colorado's 54 14,000 ft peaks and hiked and climbed in Mexico, Europe, Ecuador and Nepal. In 1998 we built our own home in the foothills west of Trinidad, CO. In April 2008 I lost Amy to cancer. I am a retired Physical Therapist who now does a lot of hiking, xc skiing, pottery, woodworking, reading and birding. By Sept of 2013 I will have participated in 7 two week Habitat RV Caravaner builds in the US and in late January 2012 I was on my first Global Villages build in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A great experience and hopefully the first of many to come. It was my first time in Southeast Asia since 1971 when I was stationed at a hospital in Viet Nam.

Volunteer Forest Yelverton

This is my third Habitat International Build (Nepal 2010 & Bolivia, 2012) as Roger’s allure just keeps me coming back for more. I am recently liberated from 21 years as Engineering VP at a major publicly owned corporation and do not miss a single thing about my old life. I spend roughly 300 hours on a plane every year between travel for work and travel for fun or both.

My passion is bicycles. I design them, I build them, I ride them and my latest focus is the development of more elegant and efficient ways of getting one and their “stuff” from where they are to where they want to go...on a bike. When not working or riding on a bike, I’m working on the house that my wife and I built in the Colorado mountains near Lyons. We recently installed 8 more solar thermal panels in a continuing effort to be energy independent in anticipation of the coming global economic and financial collapse.

Team Leader, Roger Krapfl

I have been both an active volunteer and an employee with Habtiat for Humanity of Metro Denver since 1991.

My volunteer service with Habitat includes Treasurer, Board Member, President and Founder & Director of two Habitat Home Improvement Outlet stores generating over $5 million in net profits for Habitat in their first 5 years of operation. Prior to that I served as President of three Fortune 100 subsidiaries with operations in Japan, United States and France. I've lived and worked in England, Russia and (as a Peace Corps Volunteer) in Bolivia. I've led four previous Global Village trips to Nepal, Vietnam, Bolivia and Kenya. My education includes an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia and an Engineering degree from Iowa State University.I enjoy skiing, mountain and road biking, tennis, kayaking ( Alaska, Colorado and Belize) and sailing (two ocean crossings). Extensive travel through South America, Central America, Europe, Russia, China and Japan, Nepal and Vietnam. Jack-of-all-trades, master of none.