Red Cross completes building 2,698 houses in Leyte

ISABEL, Leyte, Dec. 22 (PNA) – The Philippine Red Cross has turned over on Monday a total of 2,698 houses to the beneficiaries in the towns of Isabel and Merida in Leyte.

The shelter is part of the continuing recovery and renewal program of the PRC and its partners in the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement second year after super typhoon "Yolanda" (Haiyan) pummeled the province to the ground.

PRC Chairman Richard Gordon led the turnover held at the gymnasium across the town hall of Isabel town.

The core shelter is semi-concrete and has individual toilet, which their damaged former homes did not have. The beneficiaries shared sweat equity in constructing their homes.

“I am pleased with the progress of our shelter operation. After two years, we have built 66,800 homes across the Yolanda corridors. We are near our target of 88,800 homes in 2016,” Gordon said.

“We have health centers, livelihood programs, agricultural center, covered court among others,” he added.

In Leyte, the PRC, in support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (IFRC), has constructed almost 10,000 houses and 1,000 houses in Tacloban City.

There will be 10,000 more houses to be built in 2016 for Leyte towns and Tacloban City.

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan affected 16 million people and damaged more than 1.21 million houses.

To date, more than four million people remain displaced from their homes.

The PRC, supported by the Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC), has been implementing a Movement-Wide Operational Framework which supports an integrated approach in covering several sectors - shelter, livelihood, health and water supply, disaster risk reduction, and PRC development.

This integrated sectoral program has been implemented in the 16 villages of Isabel and Merida towns.

Isabel Mayor Marcos Greg Cerillo thanked the PRC, its national society partners, private sponsors for the "Haiyan" recovery program they have for the municipality.

Merida Mayor Jesus Antonio Martinez also recognized the huge support from the Red Cross, the biggest humanitarian group in the country.

A photo exhibit of the interventions of Red Cross in the last two years was displayed at the gym.

The livelihood beneficiaries also showcased and sold their harvest of organic vegetables in the venue.

After the storm, the livelihood of the people were badly affected and Red Cross raise the bar by giving them livelihood through organic farming.

Also present to witness the turnover were Guineveine de Jesus, Netherlands Red Cross country representative; Paul Drossou, Canada Red Cross country representative; Alif Multaje, Swiss Red Cross country representative, Resty Lou Talamayan, PRC, chief Haiyan Operations. (PNA)
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