The 5-year-old girl was wide-eyed as she surveyed her family's new home and the dozens of spectators and reporters who witnessed the ribbon-cutting and open house yesterday in Sharpsburg.

Mohamed Msulwa, his wife, Khadja Mugaza, one son and five daughters would move into the four-bedroom house on 11th Street after the well-wishers left. But first they would have to move their possessions out of the crowded apartment they have been renting in Lawrenceville.

Four years ago the family fled civil war and ethnic persecution in their Somali homeland. They were brought to the United States from a camp in Kenya through the Catholic Charities refugee resettlement program.

They have purchased the spacious 100-year-old house that has been fully renovated by Pittsburgh Habitat for Humanity. Their $315 monthly payments, on a 30-year mortgage, are less than half of what they're currently paying in rent.

The husband, wife and children ranging in age from 2 to 15 were dressed in colorful African clothes and head wraps. Family members smiled and beamed as Habitat volunteers congratulated them and welcomed them to the neighborhood.

"It's a good home. Nice!" Mr. Msulwa told reporters.

Since most of the family members speak limited English, daughter Isha Muhina, 15, was the family spokesman.

"I like it!" she said, when asked her reaction to the house. "I like it," she said, when asked how she and her siblings like their schools in the Fox Chapel Area School District. "Everyone is nice." She's a sophomore at the high school.

When 5-year-old Araby was asked which bedroom will be hers, she said, "I don't know yet!" Asked who she'll be sharing a room with, Araby said, "I don't know yet. The house is so nice!"

The parents invested a minimum of 350 hours of "sweat equity" to qualify for the interest-free mortgage from Habitat. That means they worked side by side with volunteers and contractors on the home renovations.

Isha said her contribution was baby-sitting her younger siblings while her parents and some of the older children worked on the house.

"We typically aren't able to build for a family of eight, but this house was donated to Habitat at the same time the Msulwa family applied for home ownership," said Maggie Withrow, executive director of Pittsburgh Habitat for Humanity.

The ability to make mortgage payments is one of the criteria for buying a house from Habitat, Ms. Withrow noted. Mr. Msulwa works full time at Sunny Home Cleaning Services and part time at Riverside Design Group. His wife works full time at the same design company.

"The house was structurally sound" and had not been vacant for very long, Ms. Withrow said. Habitat put $42,000 into renovations on the three-story house with yellow siding. Work included adding a bathroom, upgrading the existing bath and half bath, reconfiguring the bedrooms, installing energy-efficient windows, lowering the ceilings to cut down on heating costs and replacing kitchen appliances.

The hardwood floors were too damaged to repair and were replaced with easy-to-maintain laminate floors that look like hardwood. Two of the downstairs rooms have mahogany mantles, one with decorated tile trim. All of the rooms and hallways are painted white.

Pittsburgh Habitat for Humanity has built or renovated 60 homes since 1986. Habitat for Humanity International will build its 300,000th home this month and has provided housing for more than 1.5 million persons worldwide since 1976.

Locally, three homes are under construction in the Westwood neighborhood in Pittsburgh.

While the need for affordable housing is increasing, local donations are plummeting, Ms. Withrow said. In a typical month small donations from individuals used to total about $2,000. Last month, that figure dropped to $450. Many corporations and foundations are also decreasing contributions to nonprofit groups because of a tight economy.

For further information go to www.pittsburghhabitat.org or call 412-466-6710.