Build Fair Kicks Off on March 2020 to Improve Home-building Skills in Cebu

Pablo Margaha was 40 years old when he and his family had their first home, a two-room space made of bamboo, wood, and nipa. He used to work for a beverage company in Mandaue City until it closed its operations, so he and his wife finally decided to stay in Bogo City permanently and have their own home there.

Margaha is one of the 489 individuals in Cebu who received essential information on proper construction practices, materials, and training opportunities through a series of Build Fairs organized by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority and supported by Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter.

Without any formal training in construction, Margaha served as a part-time helper to his father-in-law, a carpenter. With his earnings from carpentry and fishing, it took him and his family 27 years, until 2010, to finish building their own house – partially made from hollow blocks and enclosed with a gate. But on November 2013, typhoon Yolanda devastated northern Cebu and neighboring provinces in the Visayas region. Margaha’s family survived but their house was destroyed.

“We mostly bought cheaper materials that we had to replace from time to time, but this was all we could afford then. After typhoon Yolanda, we had broken walls, no beams, and no roof. We had to start all over again. If I had learned then how to make my home sturdier, that would not have happened,” the now 67-year-old revealed.

The Build Fairs, which is also in partnership with private sector companies, encourage homeowners to become more proactive in building safer homes. It also supports TESDA’s goal by promoting construction courses offered through its technology-vocational institutes, in support of the national government’s Build, Build, Build program.

“The Build Fair was really helpful because it really taught us new ways and techniques on how to build safer homes – with stronger foundations and walls. What I also like was the Build it Right Guide that I can use in overseeing the construction of my daughter’s home. I hope there are more next-generation individuals and carpenters who can attend activities like this because it will really help them in their own homes and in their work,” Margaha added.

Opportunities to share essential information and crucial skills

During the Build Fair, participants learned correct building sequence principles, do-it-yourself construction tips, and other techniques that help make their homes resistant to environmental hazards.

Other fair highlights included demonstrations and exhibits of tools, best construction practices, affordable construction materials, and training courses offered by event partners.

“Our goal is to make housing markets work more effectively for low-income households in need of safe and affordable shelter so we could improve their quality of life. This is why we supported the Build Fairs and their organizers, who saw the value of this platform as a way to improve their access to information and connect them to the right providers of building materials and competencies,” Al Razon, Terwilliger Center’s Portfolio Lead for Construction Labor Practices, said.

To date, the Terwilliger Center has supported two Build Fairs caravans in far-flung communities of Cebu and Bogo City in Cebu province that were supported by the Bogo city government, Primary Structures Educational Foundation, Inc., Liteblock by Litecrete Philippines, Don Bosco Technical College, Philmetal Products, Inc., and Bogo Livelihood and Technical Skills (Bogo LiTeS) Training Center, among others.

“The Build Fair brought opportunities to masons and carpenters to learn new skills by exposing them to new technologies, materials, and equipment that most of these traditional skilled workers haven’t heard of before,” Bogo City’s Sambag barangay chairman Virgilio Terado said.

Terado also shared that aside from getting information on new skills, the event also opened additional employment and training opportunities for the participants, which can only help them improve their livelihood.

“During the event TESDA was there. There was also a company that offered free training and certificates so they can be hired to work on one of their construction projects. Through this, these participants can now apply the skills they learned through their work and get enough income so they can also improve their own homes,” Terado added.

Third Build Right Fair

On March 4, 2020, the Terwilliger Center will support the third event, now dubbed the ‘Build Right Fair’ and organized by L.A. Ducut & Company, Inc. The Build Right Fair aims to engage 500 participants from low-income households, shelter or housing cooperatives, and construction tradesmen in Toledo City, Cebu.

It will also be supported by the Toledo City government through its Community Affairs and Development Division, TESDA, Don Bosco Technical College, and construction material suppliers.

Moreover, the event will be documented, presented, and shared at a forum among identified local government units in Cebu and a pocket exhibit at the 28th Construction Show Cebu or CEBUCON slated on May 21 to 24, 2020 at SM Seaside City, Cebu.

The Center encourages organizations and companies from the construction industry to join its third Build Right Fair. For more information, interested partners may contact LADCI’s Ms. Lilibeth D. Abais or Mr. Kenneth O. Paulmitan at (0917) 322-1019 or 897-4457 or via email at sales@laducut.com.