Tzu Chi Provide Houses To Typhoon Haiyan’s Survivors in Philippines

Following typhoon Haiyan (known as Yolanda in Philippines), the Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation in Philippines began to construct 2,000 prefab houses in hard-hit Ormoc. Construction at the resettlement site started on Sept. 27, 2014.

As of November 2015, more than 800 good-quality prefabricated houses, which could be used for over 15 years, have been built on a 50-hectare land donated by Ormoc Mayor Edward Codilla to the typhoon victims through Tzu Chi Foundation, which was among the first groups to provide help when Leyte, particularly Tacloban City, was devastated by Haiyan two years ago. The temporary housing village is named Great Love City after the generosity displayed by Tzu Chi and the landowner Mayor Edward Codilla.

Tzu Chi entered into a usufruct agreement where Codilla allowed the use of the property for the next 50 years, and renewable for another 25 years. Plans are afoot to construct a market, basketball court, school, church and police station to make it a complete community.

Following the instruction of Master Cheng Yen, founder of Tzu Chi Foundation, the development of Great Love City opened livelihood opportunities for housing recipients as they were hired under a cash-for-work program to build the village. The work included the production of brick-cement tiles, bamboo sticks (used as replacement to steel that are mixed with cement), hollow blocks for the septic tanks, and manpower for building the houses.

The 250 pesos daily wage may not be high, but the income is stable. Besides, the workers can also enjoy free lunch.

Some workers attribute their financial improvement to the discipline instilled in them by Tzu Chi as they quit smoking, drinking of liquor, and gambling. Cash-for-work beneficiaries are required to attend a character formation session every morning where they relearn traditional moral values.

The first batch of beneficiaries, composed of 150 families, transferred to the Great Love Village on March 28, 2015. The second batch of 527 families moved in recently in early November 2015 while the third batch will transfer in December 2015.

The bigger 27-square-meter house units are given to families with five and more members. Families with four members or fewer are given houses with a floor area of 21 square meters. Each dwelling has steel frames, three screened windows, sliding doors, an open panel for ventilation, a toilet, kitchen, bedrooms, and brick flooring.

Providing homes to the families was not the only concern of Tzu Chi Foundation. Beneficiaries are also taught how to live peacefully and must follow certain rules, including curfew hours for children and adults. Children should be in their homes by 6 p.m. and adults, before midnight. Drinking of liquor and using illegal drugs are strictly prohibited. Eating organic food, especially vegetables, is also encouraged.

Even other residents outside the housing project were influenced by Tzu Chi’s values formation program. Inspired by a conversation with a Tzu Chi volunteer, a storeowner Cecelia Beltran has decided to stop selling liquor and cigarettes to her neighbors. Even so, the store continues to earn well.

On November 7, 2015, as part of the second year commemoration of typhoon Haiyan, Tzu Chi held a moving-in ceremony for 527 new residents from the bunkhouses in Barangay Can-untog and Concepcion. A marching band kicked off the handover ceremony. The Catholic Archbishop of Palo was also invited to bless the homes.

To celebrate the residents’ moving into their new homes, volunteers prepared small gifts for every resident: portable folding bed, Tzu Chi's signature eco-friendly blankets, bucket, coffee, milk powder, rice, noodles, cooking oil, salt, cooking sauce, vinegar and a wall clock. Besides local volunteers, Tzu Chi volunteers from Manila, Cebu and Tacloban also arrived with gifts to celebrate this occasion. The faculty also mobilized to setup the classrooms and clean up tables and chairs to welcome children who will be attending the Tzu Chi Great Love City Day Care Center.

There are 677 families who now live in the Great Love City. Construction of the remaining housing units is still ongoing with at least 2,000 houses expected to be put up by 2017. At present, more than 400 families still live in the bunkhouses and are waiting to be resettled at the Tzu Chi Great Love village.