Development of modern houses, the design of which addresses risks and costs for families in regions high-risk to typhoons and other natural hazards are trending nowadays. Several groups have shown a great promise in terms of promoting risk-proof buildings that are not expensive for common people.
We are proud to present our partner Tao Pilipinas: women-led organization of professionals in the field of architecture, planning and engineering providing technical assistance to the urban poor. Tao Pilipinas is one of the leading proponent of resilient and cost-effective house designs for vulnerable families.
RESILIENT BAHAY-KUBO. Kahit munti, the houses designed by TAO-Pilipinas are sustainable and designed to be resilienst against the identified risks in the area. The shelter project of #ProjectPagbangon is in partnership with Terres des Hommes – Germany, Christian Aid, and the Municipality of Guiuan.
Better shelter, not helter-skelter
After Yolanda, many humanitarian organizations and corporations rush to the affected provinces to provide assistance. In the island of Manicani in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, #ProjectPagbangon not only provide relief but targeted to build 40 units of risk-sensitive and cost-effective shelters to the most vulnerable households in four barangays of the island: Buenavista, Banaag, San Jose, and Hamorawon.
The guidelines for selecting recipients are simple: vulnerable families who have not received any shelter assistance from other organizations, and who are willing to be part of #ProjectPagbangon. The preliminary assessment was conducted by Arturo Tahup, community organizer for Terres des Hommes – Germany.
Tao also conducted what they dub as “Sustainable and Disaster-resilient Settlements Planning and Design Workshop” to promote community participation and collaborative work that marries local knowledge and updated innovation in terms of shelter construction.(Materials are available upon request from TAO-Pilipinas).
In the process, 40 community members are finalized to receive the 40 houses.
Future-building
The community partners provided their counterpart in the construction of the houses, and chose their own contractors. The houses were completed on December 2015, and turned over to the families. The houses are built in previously identified safe zones during risk assessments.
TAO-Pilipinas, TdH and Christian Aid (also a partner) hosted a reflection session, where the recipient families shared what they have learned in the process of building back their own houses.
