Red Cross: 40,000 families rebuilding homes after Yolanda as recovery phase sets in

(Updated 1:23 p.m., Nov. 5) Cash and food-for-work programs to enable 40,000 families to build their new homes and move into them in the next 15 months were underway as Tacloban residents the Philippine Red Cross cared for got their last tranche of emergency aid last month, the PRC said on Tuesday.

 

"We are here is to alleviate their suffering and give them dignity. We will not be able to give them dignity if we continue to provide them with emergency assistance even if they don't need it anymore," PRC Secretary-General Gwendolyn Pang said in an interview with GMA News Online.

As the NGO enters into the recovery and rehabilitation phase, its focus now is on livelihood, shelter, health, education and disaster risk reduction.
 

Some 6,100 houses have been rebuilt and 23,000 households have received roofing sheets for houses that could still be repaired, according to the PRC.

 

Aside from house construction, PRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies also provided livelihood programs such as farming, rearing livestock, setting up local convenience or sari-sari stores, peanut butter production, candle making, and turning truck tires into kitchen kits.

 

The Red Cross tried first to help relocate survivors who were living in danger zones as the government and private corporations could not immediately provide them with lands, so they opted to help those affected who had their own properties on "safe zones."

 

"We cannot wait [for the government] because there are still families who already have their own property and we can help rebuild their homes, so, we focused on the on-site building," she said.

 

The 40,000 families the Red Cross has transitioned to recovery and rehabilitation are spread out to Palawan, Cebu, Ormoc, Leyte, Easter Samar, Western Samar, Antique, Aklan, Iloilo and Capiz.

 

Pang also said that the Red Cross is active in the promotion of hygiene, putting up latrines and water systems, and reconstruction and repair of health centers. 

 

"We also have education [component]. Usually, ang school ginagamit as evacuation center, so we help them by rebuilding the school, putting water facilities, and putting more latrines in schools. So, it will prepare them for the next disaster," Pang said.


— ELR/KG, GMA News