Welcome to Amore Community

The Amore Transitory Housing Camp is located in Brgy. Anislag Daraga, Albay. It is now renamed Amore Village because of the negative connotation of the transitory housing. It is 11 kilometers away from the center of Daraga and takes 15 minutes to reach the place. The land is owned by the provincial government and OC is responsible in managing the resettlement, including the mobilization of resources to build permanent shelter for 130 families, 114 of whom came from Brgy. Banyag and 16 were from Brgy. Tagas in Daraga. Other families that were displaced by the flashflood from the two barangays were dispersed and lived in other resettlement areas.  

Opposite Amore is a bigger resettlement area provided by the government. The housing projects were supported by the Vicentian Sisters, the Catholic-based Gawad Kalinga, the Compassion International, the Community Organization for People’s Empowerment (COPE) and the government’s Department of Social Welfare and Development. There are 3,725 families who have been resettled with permanent housing in this area.(2009) While the provincial government provided the land, the humanitarian organizations were the ones providing the housing and related services.

The initial residents of the Amore were fifty families who moved to the place in April, 2007. Prior to this, OC staff went to the evacuation center in the school and provided relief assistance. They also conducted meetings with the families whose communities were buried by the debris. The 50 families initially lived in Amore using tents provided by the government welfare agency and European Union. In May, 2007, the second batch of evacuees composed of another 60 families arrived. Later, the International Organization Migration (IOM) provided funding for the building of temporary housing that can last for two-three years. The evacuees were mobilized to build the temporary housing. The temporary housing was composed of 11 bunkhouses with ten units each. There was a common source of piped water. Public toilets and baths were located around the bunkhouses. There are 22 families who are part of the Amore but who do not live in the village because the temporary housing built was as good only for 110 families. They, either, rented apartment in the town, lived with their relatives or went back to the buried community and put up temporary shelter.

When the OC came to Amore with the families, they envisioned to build a holistic community where the people themselves would be participants in the process of rebuilding. There were several meetings held to decide on the management of several aspects of the temporary housing. They organized themselves into Amore People Organization (APO). A team leader was elected from each bunkhouse. From among the 13 team leaders, the family representative to the APO elected the chairman, the vice-chairman, secretary and the treasurer. A community development worker of the OC lived in Amore and facilitated the organizational activities of the resettled families.

The Sambahayan Housing Program

While community development activities were taking place in Amore, the foundation of a telecommunication company entered into a partnership with the OC for a housing project. The executive director of the corporate foundation was interested in disaster risk management and adopted a housing program as its corporate social responsibility. The corporate foundation promised to finance the housing for the 130 families and gave an initial amount of 2 million pesos. However, the financial support stopped when there was a change in the leadership of the corporate foundation. The new foundation officials changed its thrust from disaster risk management to youth and sports development. With no funds coming from the corporate foundation, the point person of the foundation raised funds from personal donations. The combined amount was able to put up 14 duplexes good for 28 units.

With the corporate foundation backing out of their commitment to finance the housing program, the OC had no recourse but to carry on what had been started. They called the housing program Samahayan in Albay. Sambahayan is a Filipino value that encapsulates love, care and compassion for one another. The OC believes in the resilient spirit of the Albay residents in renewing their lives. The OC helps in building homes where love, respect, acceptance and protection are experienced by each member or kasambahay. It is envisioned that each kasambahay will be given a role to fulfill in rebuilding their lives. Homes would in turn a build a community of responsible, self-sufficient and contributors in society. (OC- b, n.d.)

Unlike other housing design in the adjacent resettlement, the housing design in Amore is different. It is a two-story duplex, with each unit having a 40 square meter floor area. The design was done in consultation with the residents in the temporary housing. OC describes its housing design framework as:

…not only concerned with giving them shelter, but rather, in providing them a new life. A renewed life to heal wounds, inspire hope and reinvigorate faith. That is why this housing program, although affordable, is of high quality. A two-storey house… with separate rooms for parents and the children to avoid early exposure to sex and temptation of incestuous relations. Also, there is an area for business to aid in their financial needs.

The construction of the housing units was done by the residents themselves. The design of the house and the housing policies were formulated by the residents, with the OC workers as facilitators. The 120 families were divided into two priority groups composed of 60 families each. The 60 families who first came to Amore were prioritized for the housing project. The 60 families were divided into six teams with ten members each. Each team had to construct five duplexes. Each family contributed a member who would provide labor for the construction. For each day of work, the family worker gets a kilo of rice and 50 pesos (approximately 1 US $). In cases where the family cannot send a family member to work, the family hired a laborer as its contribution. So far, there are 56 duplexes that have been put up by the first 130 family workers. Due to lack of funding, the houses could not be completed. It was agreed that the first 60 families would occupy their units once the 30 duplexes are completed (6 teams x 5 duplex each team). The cost per unit now is 120,000 pesos or approximately 3,200 US dollars. Recently, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) of the government entered into a memorandum of agreement with the OC that it would provide 70,000 pesos for each of the 100 families. According to the agency policy, this is the maximum amount that it can give for housing of disaster affected families.

Meanwhile, the OC is mobilizing resources so that the housing project would continue. It has to raise P 50,000 per housing unit or 5 million pesos (US$ 108,695), which is 42% of the total housing costs. With the DSWD promising to provide the bulk of the funds for the permanent housing, the Amore People Organization started to prepare for the resumption of the construction activities.

Guts and Gaps in Amore and OC: A Reflection in Community Development in Risk Reduction

Using the CD framework in disaster risk reduction, much can be gleaned from the experience of the Amore community and the OC as a humanitarian organization facilitating the post disaster development work. Considering the CD fields such as community education, community organizing and community resource and disaster risk management, the experience in Amore shows that there were sincere attempts or guts to bring in the three together, but there were also gaps in effectively undertaking them.

Community Education

In community education, the OC has a very clear perspective of the participatory approaches and values relevant in undertaking community development in Amore. It puts premium on the development of people’s capacities and resilience and the need to have greater faith, hope, unity among the community, the sense of trust and discipline, and involvement in the process of rebuilding the community. These values were inculcated in small group meetings and community assemblies. The community leaders and most of the residents are very well versed with these values. This is shown in their volunteerism in several community activities and in their participation in the housing construction. One can easily observed friendliness and a sense of happiness among the people, despite the poverty situation. Among the Filipinos, this is resilience- the ability to cope with difficult situations and be happy even in the midst of problems.  

There are gaps as well. There are minority members of the community who seem to have not grasped the community values. The latter are described by the leaders as the oppositionists in the community. They are very critical in informal discussions but do not say a word during meetings. They make a small thing an issue, ensuing division among the residents. There are those who violently start a fight against the community leaders. Among the concerns that the “oppositionists” raise are the delay in the completion of the housing project, the perceived closeness of the community leaders to the OC, and the resistance to the rules and regulations in the community.

The residents have productive skills in carpentry, construction, baking and cooking, weaving, driving, trading and small-scale entrepreneurship. The community leaders manifest skills in planning community activities and in mobilizing the members, as shown in the latter’s participation. However, there is a need for the enhancement of community development skills such as assessment and documentation, facilitation, conflict management and human relations, policy development and monitoring, and organizing. These skills have to be developed to all, and not just among the leaders.

Community Organizing

Organizing wise, the community is organized. Each bunkhouse has ten families that compose a small group with an elected group leader. From the 13 small group leaders, the residents elected the four officers namely the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and treasurer. In each small group, there is also a secretary, treasurer and committee members for health and sanitation, education, peace and order, housing and finance. Communication and mobilization in the organization is facilitated through this set-up. However, most of the communications are verbal, making it more vulnerable to misunderstanding, misquotation, and forgetfulness.

While the organization is functioning, there are no existing by-laws yet. Rules are formulated as the need arises such as the procedures for election, the housing policy, and other rules in the community.

A community development worker is assigned by the OC to assist the community. A social worker by profession, he lives in the community and does community assessment and integration, assists the small groups and the people organization, facilitates the development of policies, and serves as liaison officer between the community and the OC in overseeing the housing project.

Community Resource and Disaster Risk Management

The education and organizing activities in Amore are not ends by themselves. They are instruments in developing their capacities to enable them to improve their well-being and welfare. A basic component of the people’s welfare is their survival and security from socio-economic, political, physical and environmental threats. Apparently, the relocation of the people from Brgy. Banyag to Amore removed the risk of the residents from the possibility of being engulfed again by the flood and debris from Mayon Volcano. The new village is a much safer now, located in a higher elevation, with no river to flood them or erode their land, and no mountain to bury them from landslides.

When the families survived the flashflood in 2006, they had nothing but only their clothes on. Some even had nothing on since the current took their clothes off, leaving them naked. They lost their houses, lands, investments and other properties. They were thankful that they lived, though many lost their relatives. Now, as one visits their temporary housing, one can notice the growing normalcy in their lives. They have acquired the basic household implements, with some having television and refrigerator already. Electricity and water are provided by the government free. Among the former middle-income families, the new situation is far less convenient than what they had before. However, for some, even the temporary housing is a lot better than the shanty houses they had before, and are thankful that they would have the chance to own a house in the near future.

The disaster and its memory have affected the mental health of the residents. They expressed how they get nervous by the sound of the rain. They still dreamed about it and had teary eyes when they related their stories. One said that she could not look at the place where she used to live every time the vehicle she was riding on would pass through it.

The physical displacement of the families has also dislocated them economically. Whereas before, they could just walk in going to the town proper for a living, now, they have to spend no less than a dollar in going to and from the town. Those who were engaged in trading and vending lost their capital and could not start anew because the market is far. Everybody agrees that employment and new sources of livelihood are the most crucial need at this point in time.

The OC’s community development work focuses on capacity building, organizing, and the housing program. The schemes for housing construction where the people themselves build their own home have multiple advantages that help in alleviating the social-economic and mental stresses of the people. Socially, a sense of community is created as they work together in teams. Economically, the workers are given a minimal amount and food for work than can help sustain their daily needs. Mentally, building their own house keeps them busy and keeps them away from reminiscing the past that triggers self-pity. There seems to be a community feast when construction is taking place. As the men work on the house, the women are vending food or providing assistance to the workers and the children playing all around. There is a sense of fulfillment instilled for they know that the houses they are building will become their homes once completed. As the OC says, “building homes… restoring dignity”.

Roles of Humanitarian Organizations in Community Development

Theoretically, the communities are said to be empowered when they themselves are the ones making the decisions affecting their lives. Initially, external organization has a majority roles played in the process of empowerment, and gradually reduces its roles as the people are able to decide and perform the tasks that used to be within the hand of the external organization. In the case of communities that are ravaged by disasters, the process of empowerment can take longer time due to the socio-economic, emotional and mental healing that should be addressed.

In case of Amore and the OC, they have been partners for less than three years. The OC adopts a participatory approach by facilitating decision making among the people. However, there is a need to develop the leaders and the people organization’s capacity to manage their own affairs. Understandably, the leaders still look up to the OC leadership in terms of strategizing what is to be done in the community and in mobilizing resources so that the housing projects would be completed. Still feeling the sense of loss, the partnership serves as a concrete and visible manifestation of caring and compassion. It is also a concretization of the DRR principle that the “less vulnerable must assist the more vulnerable”.

The experience shows the imperative for humanitarian organizations in mobilizing material and financial resources to meet the basis needs of the disaster victims, but with an empowering perspective in the process of giving. Receiving aids like dole outs could help alleviate the emergency needs, but can create more devastating effects such as dependency and powerlessness. This is the reason why producing services with the direct hand inputs of the disaster-affected families is both physically and inwardly rewarding. It symbolizes the rebuilding of their lives with their own will.

Collaboration and faithfulness to commitments made by humanitarian organizations are core values that have to be respected and put into action. Both the Amore community and the OC looked forward to the commitment made by the corporate foundation to take care of the housing program, but this was not fulfilled, resulting in the people becoming more restless and confused on how they can have the permanent housing. Disappointment like this creates distrust and greater uncertainty among those whose lives have been de-stabilized by disasters. It is pertinent to remember that these families are very vulnerable and human errors can aggravate the very volatile socio-psychological make-up of disaster victims.

Vulnerability of Communities in Albay

The province of Albay is found in the eastern side of the Philippines and fronting the Pacific Ocean. Its physical setting makes it very susceptible to typhoons, earthquake and volcanic eruptions. Destructive typhoons come to the country at an average of 20 per year, most of them passing through the province, bringing in other hazards such as strong winds, landslide and floods. Albay is also the home of the most active volcano in the country named Mt. Mayon, known as having a perfect cone. In July 14, 2006, alert level 3 warning was declared due to lava trickles. By August 7, 2006, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level to 4. There was ash explosion and the local government ordered mandatory evacuation among the residents living within the danger zones. There were 9,000 families and 43,000 persons affected coming from 32 barangays of five municipalities and three cities. There was no casualty reported due to the eruption (PDDC, 2006).

That same year, in September 27, typhoon Milenyo hit Albay. Two months later, typhoon Reming (international code name: Durian) hit the country in November 30, 2006, lashing the province with strong winds and heavy rains and causing the sediments, sands and boulders resting on the slopes of Mayon to rush down with the rain. Several communities were buried and hundreds of families were displaced. The rainfall reached 467 mm which was equivalent to one month rainfall. The typhoon cum flashflood resulted in 604 persons dead, 419 persons missing and 1,465 injured (Daep, n.d.). Table 3 shows the magnitude of the damages.