Rebuilding lives: Philippine Business for Social Progress provides shelter kits to Yolanda survivors

Jay-Anne Cuyos could not believe that her family will finally have a home to call their own, after nine months of sleeping with their dogs in a makeshift dwelling in Northern Palawan.

“Ang bahay namin nasa tabing dagat kaya nasira ito nung bagyong Yolanda. Simula noon, nakatira lang kami sa bahay gawa mula sa trapal at natutulog kami ng mga anak ko kasama ang mga aso. (Our house was near the shore so when typhoon Yolanda hit us, it was damaged. Since then, we have been living in a makeshift house made out of tarpaulin, and my children and I sleep with the dogs.),” said the 26-year-old mother of five.

Cuyos and her community of seaweed planters in Brgy. Algeciras, Palawan, lost their homes and livelihood to Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) last November. The super-typhoon made its last landfall in their municipality in Agutaya, destroying 90 percent of the farms, 1,422 houses, boats used for fishing, schools, and infrastructure.

Since then, the Cuyos’ family and her fellow Palawenos have been living under dire circumstances. Many of them are having a hard time starting anew after losing almost everything. They thought that they would be forever confined to their makeshift shanties – made of salvaged materials from their own houses – until help came.

GIVING HOPE THROUGH HOUSES

Last March, Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) started providing shelter assistance packages to 14 families in Brgy. Algeciras as part of its “Project New Dawn (PND).”

PND is PBSP and its 250 plus member-companies and partners’ collective response to help rebuild the lives of Yolanda survivors in affected areas in the Visayas region and Palawan. The project aims to restore vital infrastructure and services in these areas in the sectors of Health, Education, Environment, Livelihood & Enterprise Development, and Shelter (HEELS).

The project has two main components: the Social Investments Portfolio which lists all the intervention packages to help rebuild devastated areas in the Visayas region and Palawan; and the Collective Impact Site (CIS) which will initially bring the entire HEELS program to Northern Cebu.

To date, the organization has provided 4,286 shelter kits in Iloilo, Panay, and 431 in Cebu.

For Palawan, PBSP is partnering with Andres Soriano Foundation, Inc. (ASFI) to assist communities in rebuilding their homes. Each shelter kit costs P10,000, and consists of complete materials for a small house. These include corrugated and plain Gl (galvanized iron) sheet roofing, coco lumber, flexi-board with nails, and cement. A labor fee of P2,000 is also provided for each family as payment for the services of a carpenter to help build the house.

THE NEED FOR DECENT HOUSING

The shelter kits were too good to be true for the community in Brgy. Algeciras who just couldn’t believe such assistance is being freely given to them.

“Ito ba talaga ay totoo? (Is this really true?),” asked Charity Ibanez delos Reyes during the distribution of shelter kits. “Kahit isang yero hirap na hirap na kaming bilhin. Pero eto, isang dosena ang binigay sa amin. Hindi talaga kami makapaniwala na binigyan kami ng tulong na ganito! (We find it hard to buy even one iron sheet but now we’re getting a dozen. We really couldn’t believe that we received such kind of assistance!)” she added.

According to Kristine Jimeno-Rivadelo, manager of PBSP’s Luzon Regional Center, they decided to address this basic need of decent housing because of its long-term impact.

“In the course of our work with various groups, we saw that it is really different when you provide decent housing for calamity victims. That’s because it is the most important and basic need,” Rivadelo said.

Cuyos, and the rest of the beneficiaries could not thank the donors enough for their new houses which bring a newfound hope for a better future for their families.

“Maraming salamat sa mga donors, nararamdaman namin ang kanilang pagmamahal. Itong bagong bahay na ito ay simbolo ng bagong pag-asa para sa amin at sa aming pamilya. (Thank you to our donors, we feel their love through their assistance. This new house is a symbol of hope for us and for our families.),” concluded Cuyos.

This article was also published at:

 http://www.pbsp.org.ph/news/rebuilding-lives/