Sahaya says, Bangon Luzon !
Donations have reached over $1,300.
From its inception three months ago, the Bangon Luzon program for the benefit of the residents of Tabaco City, Albay, has received over $1300 support from various individuals and organizations. With this, more families will be receiving materials for a new roof, windows, doors and walls for the basic structure of a house. But note, we still have many more houses to rebuild.
The Tabaco City in Albay identified 3,500 totally destroyed houses and 15,000 partially damaged houses. Based on the estimate of the city engineer, a destroyed house can be rebuilt at $710 while a damaged house can be fixed for $320 using coco lumber, plywood and corrugated sheets. We are reaching out to your kind hearts to help the families rebuild their houses and bring back a sense of security in their lives.
In a northern town in Jose Panganiban, the seed funding from the main Bangon Luzon program in the Philippines prompted local support augmenting the funding which resulted to sturdier houses at a relocation site. It was a 2-fold effect, benevolence from the community and a reenergized neighborhood onwards to recovery; an inspirational precedent for communities to replicate.
To date, the Bangon Luzon program has reached out to 43,500 families across the Philippines encompassing 67 cities and municipalities. The program has addressed the needs of the typhoon victims from the time the typhoon devastated communities until today when the people are rebuilding their houses and livelihood.
How you can help:
Contributions to this program via Sahaya International are tax-deductible in the USA. If you like to make a contribution, you can do so in different ways:
- To pay by credit card or paypal, go to our donation page. When you make the donation, please use the “Is This Donation In Honor of Or In Memory of an Individual?” field to enter “Bangon Luzon” so we know your donation is earmarked for this project.
- You can mail a check, made payable to “Sahaya International” to us. Add in the notes field “Bangon Luzon”; please provide us with your e-mail ID so we can email you a tax receipt. Mail the check to: Sahaya International, 1504 Portola Street, Davis, CA 95616
- You can also transfer money via Zelle. Use e-mail [email protected] to send money via Zelle. In the notes field, please enter “Bangon Luzon”, and if you like a tax receipt, also include your e-mail address.
Their story:
Imagine this, in 2020 children are homeschooled, parents and older siblings work from home, and grandparents just have to stay at home. The home was the safest place, the cleanest place, a school, office playground and place of worship. Then in the midst of the peak of the pandemic a super typhoon named Rolly/Goni steals the place you call home. Until now, families have been staying at crowded evacuation centers, cohabiting with another family or some have gone back to their damaged homes. This happened in the northern and central islands of the Philippines.
The typhoons concentrated in the island of Luzon which is the biggest and most populated island. Bangon (Get Up) Luzon is the program of the Kaya Natin (We Can Do It) Movement, they have addressed the needs of the people since the onslaught of the typhoon. They have mobilized manpower and resources, packaging basic sustenance and comfort and visiting sites to check the condition of the people. During the relief efforts, the program was able to raise US$1.5 Million cash donations and others came in the form of goods. Now, Bangon Luzon is focusing on rehabilitation, rebuilding damaged or completely destroyed houses.
Sahaya International is raising funds to help rebuild houses in the city of Tabaco, Albay in the Bicol Region. Tabaco is dependent on farming, fishing and crafts made from metal, wood and rattan. People are very much industrious growing their businesses from their homes. Though the region is in the typhoon belt, houses are not all made of brick and mortar.
Many thanks for your support!
