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| New housing units at Rotary Homes |
Around 5,000 families dwell along the
banks of the three-kilometer Parañaque River, considered one of the most polluted in Metro
Manila and classified as “biologically
dead” by the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR), which
means it is no longer a viable habitat for fishes and other forms of marine
life. Heavily clogged with tons of trash
and domestic wastes, flooding is always imminent
during a typhoon that brings torrential rains, threatening the lives of these poor residents who most likely
persist in this area despite the risks because they have no other options.
Among these informal settlers is the
family of Romulo Astay, 43, who works as a security guard. He admits that he
always leaves their house in Brgy. Sto.
Nino for work with a heavy heart, worried
about the safety of his wife and one year old daughter.
“Whenever there are heavy rains, typhoons
and high tide, we are forced to evacuate our home and take shelter in a public
school until the flood subsides. It is really a difficult situation for us,”
Astay confided.
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| Rotarians checking out the situation along Paranaque River |
In the Philippines, most especially in
Metro Manila, homelessness is one of the major problems. According to Joselito T. Sescon, a regular
lecturer at the Department of Economics, Ateneo de Manila University, the
population of homeless people and informal setters is in a constant flux. “Why do
persons and families end up without shelters? Recently, robust research found evidence
indicating that homelessness is the outcome of dynamic interactions between
individualistic reasons and structural changes. Adverse events in the lives of individuals coinciding
with certain structural factors could result in individuals becoming homeless
with their families,” he explained.
Among the reasons for homelessness Secson
pointed out in his regular column in Business Mirror are poverty, inadequate social services and inaccessibility
to socialized housing. “Homelessness is likewise a consequence of personal
problems such as loss of income and
livelihood, family feud, house demolition and calamities. In not a few cases
these bad situations pile up one after another making further difficult
resolving the dilemma of homelessness.”
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| Hsieh |
Instead of heading to less populated
rural areas thousands of
poverty-stricken families and individuals choose to stay in the metropolis in spite of the serious risks in dwelling in abandoned
and condemned buildings, center islands of roads, cemeteries, sidewalks and shanties in clogged waterways because the highly urbanized place provides
them a means to survive on a daily basis.
“In Metro Manila, the majority of homeless people interviewed cited
economic reasons in staying in the city.
They have better chances in finding odd jobs as vendors, car park
attendants and pedicab drivers or earn money from recycling scavenged
materials, helping in public markets and
many sorts of short-term income opportunities combined sometimes with begging
for food and loose change. Daily cash income ranges from a hundred to PhP300 a
day, but it can go as high as PhP 500 to PhP 600,” Secson stated.
When “Concrete” Mu Tu Hsieh, District Governor
of RI District 3490 in Taiwan learned about the homelessness situation in the
Philippines he deemed it as a challenge to change people’s lives. “Homelessness is a gargantuan problem of
the society but we have to change the perception that this cannot be solved. We
are here to create a long term change,” said Hsieh.
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| Rotary Homes at Paranaque City |
The Taiwanese Rotary district leader shared
that before his term started he has been planning a massive service project
that would uplift lives of many underprivileged families. Providentially, he
met Edna Sutter, District Governor, RI District 3830 during their training
seminar for incoming governors at the 2015 Rotary Institute held in Manila. She
introduced to him the Rotary Homes project which was launched in 2009 in
partnership with the City Government of Paranaque.
The primary aim of the project is to
relocate families residing in identified danger zones along the Paranaque
River. The relocation site was built on
a 4.2-hectare lot provided by the local government unit within the Don Galo
estuary and C-5 Extension road in Barangay La Huerta, Paranaque City. The
housing project is a complete community with provision for roads, electricity
as well as water and sanitation facilities, and likewise the recipient of services
from Rotary clubs in the district which continuously work hand in hand in line
with Rotary’s Areas of Focus.
“We have been informed that there are
families that live along the dangerous zone of the river banks and since Rotary
District 3830 has been doing a lot of work for that part of the city, we
thought it was worthwhile to undertake the
housing project with them,” said Hsieh, a civil engineer by profession.
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| Rotarians with their beneficiaries |
On July 31, 2016 the Taiwanese District Governor
visited the Philippines for the ground breaking ceremony for the construction
of 60 Rotary Homes, an e-library and medical clinic all to be financed by RI District 3490’s donation of USD 240,000
handed over on that same occasion by the District Governor to the Rotary Homes
Foundation.
Completion of the project took four
months. Hsieh, along with the officers
of the clubs of RI District 3490, personally witnessed the inauguration and the
turnover of the housing units to the beneficiaries. The occasion, dubbed as
“Build Day,” was also attended by Paranaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez,
Parañaque congressmen Eric Olivarez and Gus Tambunting, RI District 3830
Governor Sutter, and the Rotary Homes Foundation Trustees led by Chairman Sid
Garcia and Past RI Director Paing Hechanova.
Medical and dental missions and free grooming services were also
conducted simultaneously with the program.
“After the groundbreaking ceremony months
ago, children approached me and asked “Are you coming back?” Today, we like to
tell them we are back with all the things that we have promised and this is our
commitment to the residents of this community,” Hsieh said in his speech. “I
believe good families build good nation. If they are safe and stable, they
would be able to contribute more to the country.”
After the program, Rotarians from Taiwan
approached the project’s beneficiaries to personally congratulate them for
being granted a new home. In spite of the language barrier, the parties clearly
understood each other through the smiles on their faces reflecting the
priceless happiness both sides feel brought about by the sincere generosity on
the part of the donors and heartfelt gratitude on the part of the beneficiaries.
A proof that kindness has no borders.
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| Taiwanese Rotarians officially handing over one house unit to Astay and his family |
Among the beneficiaries is the family of
Romulo Astay who is thankful for the privilege given to him by Rotary to have
his own house that is safe from floods. He considers it as the best Christmas
gift he ever received.
“It is really a big help. Now, whenever I
go to work, I do not worry about the safety of my family that I leave at home.”
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