Hit by Typhoon Sendong four years ago, relocated families are slowly rebuilding their lives

CAGAYAN: Almost four years have passed since their relocation after typhoon Sendong hit their village and the 100-odd families are slowly beginning to move on in their new neighbourhood rebuilding their lives.
With the contributions and aid from Berjaya Corporation Group of Companies and the local NGO, Gawad Kalinga Foundation (GK), these families do not just have their own permanent houses to live in but also a safer and decent neighbourhood.
Compared to living in a slum area in their bamboo huts and roofs that leaked, GK executive director Jose Luis Oquinena explained that these families have much to be thankful for now.
"Just building a house for them is not enough, we have taught them new ways of living. They need a proper livelihood to sustain their lives," he told reporters while visiting the Berjaya-GK Village in Upper Bolonsori Camaman-an here in Cagayan de Oro City last week.
He said despite working with these families to build them as communities, GK cannot say that the task has been completed.
"Work doesn't stop there; we assign a caretaker to these villages to ensure that a long term character building and communal living can be achieved.
"After building the houses, the hardest thing to build is a home in that house, and through building a home we try to connect the families to build a community," Oquinena said.
This is because many of these families came from different areas and communities after they were struck by the calamity in their original areas.
"The village currently houses 150 families; about 90 of them were those affected by the Sendong typhoon while the others either affected by other disasters previously or were already residents in the site," Oquinena said.
He said the foundation is now moving to its second phase in rebuilding the lives of these families – that is to help provide a livelihood and have a source of income.
Despite living in their own homes, these families are still struggling to cope with daily living as there is no proper consistent water supply to the village.
Speaking to some of the families in the new village, it was learnt that the families pay seven pesos (about 60 sen) for about four litres of water in a container.
"We are happy to live here but our biggest problem is water. We have to pay seven pesos for one gallon of water and have to store it up for future use.
"We are still waiting for all the election promises to be fulfilled in this area," Rochelle Riviera, 23, said.
She has an eight-month old son and lives with six other family members in the house.
She said that the process of moving on was not easy as she remembers how many of her previous neighbours were washed away in the typhoon and no one could help them.
Breaking down in tears, Riviera recalled how she saw her former classmate drowning in the flood.
Expressing gratitude for the relocation, Evangeline Quider, 44, said most of the families here are struggling for a decent source of income and some of them have to travel out to the city to work.
She said although her husband works in an auto supply shop in the market nearby, she still needs to work to feed her six children. She does pedicure and manicure services going house to house.
Quider was five months pregnant with her sixth child and had to climb up a billboard when the typhoon hit. "But I am thankful that nothing happened to my children and we got help within a few hours," she said.
Lourdes A. Daroy, 60, who has a small provision store in her house, said the families in the area buy groceries on credit from her as they do not have a regular income.
She said not having consistent water supply for the past three years is tough and the families are hoping that this problem would soon be resolved.
Daroy, who is also the president of Urban Poor Association there, said their water supply is always used up by those living downhill and water seldom reaches their village.
Admitting that this is indeed a problem here, Oquinena said this is where the local government has to play a strong role in helping these families have a good living.
"Nevertheless GK is working on how to address the villagers' issues," he said.