The family has been staying at the house of Sheryll’s mother since May 7, when their house was destroyed by the strong winds of Typhoon “Emong.”

Three families actually shared her mother’s cramped, little house in Alaminos City proper for almost two months.

“Uuwi na tayo (We’re going home),” Leo told Sheryll on Wednesday, their anticipation mirrored by smile.

“Home” is an igloo-shaped tent donated by the ShelterBox Trust, a United Kingdom-based charity group that provides emergency aid for victims of natural and other disasters around the world.

The ShelterBox Trust partners with the Rotary Club for the distribution of the dwelling materials—a green plastic box containing a tent designed for a wide range of conditions and items, such as insulated groundsheets, thermal blankets, a stove, cooking and dining equipment, tools, mosquito nets, water containers and water purifying tablets.

The shelter box is designed to accommodate 10 people.

‘Bayanihan’

Through bayanihan (community cooperation), villagers assembled the tent beside the ruins of the Bumacods’ house in Mona, an agricultural village that was among the worst-hit by Emong.

Another villager, Marichu Recide, 30, could not contain her happiness when she received the shelter box. “My children will have a safe place to stay,” she said.

Recide, a mother of six children aged one to 12 years, said her family stays in different houses after their house was destroyed by Emong.

William Chan, assistant governor of the Rotary Club 3790, said the shelter boxes should have been delivered immediately after a calamity, but it took some time before these arrived from an Australian depot and were cleared by the Bureau of Customs.

More than a week after the typhoon struck Pangasinan, the Rotary Club of Hundred Islands delivered 20 boxes on Dewey Island in Bolinao town, 20 boxes in Tore-tore village in Anda town, and 10 in Olanen village in Bani town. Eight families in Alaminos received the shelter boxes.

“The typhoon victims are just so many and there are just not enough shelter boxes,” Chan said.

‘Tent city’

The Rotary Club plans to establish a “tent city” in Olanen where about 100 houses were destroyed and washed into the sea by strong waves.

Residents now live with their relatives and the Bani municipal government plans to establish a housing project for them, in cooperation with the Gawad Kalinga.

Chan said residents would stay in the tents while their houses were being built.

It’s a race against time for the reconstruction of houses by local governments, residents and volunteers in the western towns devastated by Emong, especially with the onset of the rainy season.

In Alaminos, at least 2,408 families lost their houses to the typhoon. At least 5,745 houses were damaged.

Assistance

Mayor Hernani Braganza said those who lost their houses were given financial assistance, while those whose houses were damaged were given galvanized iron sheets and other construction materials for repair.

The city government has not even completed constructing or repairing houses destroyed by Typhoon “Cosme” in May last year when Emong struck, Braganza said.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) recently sent teams to help in the reconstruction of houses in Alaminos, Agno, Anda and Bani. The MMDA teams brought construction materials.

Anda Mayor Nestor Pulido said the local government bought several rolls of canvas and gave these to typhoon victims “as a temporary roofing material.”

“With the rains here, they could have at least temporary shelter,” he said.

By Yolanda Sotelo, Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 22, 200
Source: http://services.inquirer.net/mobile/09/07/22/html_output/xmlhtml/20090722-216620-xml.html