Indian NGO Builds 116 Concrete Houses in Eastern Samar

Salcedo, Eastern Samar (PNA) -– Residents of two coastal villages in this town are recipients of 116 concrete houses built by an international non-government organization (NGO) founded in India.

The Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT), a global NGO advocating disaster relief, sustainable development, and community service has donated 67 units of concrete houses to Asgad village and 49 units to Jagnaya village.

Each of the concrete houses has a floor area of 40.6 square meters with a toilet room and two bedrooms.

Most of these permanent houses have been built in a relocation site provided by the organization since most of the beneficiaries do not own the land where their damaged houses once stood.

“When we came five days after Yolanda, we went around for four days assessment trip in the heavily affected areas and we saw that these two villages were in most need of our assistance. These areas were heavily damaged,” recalled Kurt Behringer, coordinator of the international disaster relief team.

This town has 26 coastal villages and the two recipient villages are among those facing the Pacific Ocean, which were heavily damaged by storm surges when super typhoon Yolanda hit the region. Nearly half of the total land area of both coastal villages was wiped out.

AMURT has started constructing the PHP57-million shelter project in December 2013 and was completed recently.

“All the families who lost their houses, all the houses beyond repair, got a house from us. There was no selection of who will get and who will not get,” the coordinator added.

Founded in 1955 in India by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, AMURT is a communal and developmental organization and is most known in dessert world countries like Africa. They have been in the Philippines since 1987 with their main office in Manila and three big hubs in Cebu, Iloilo and Davao.

Currently, the team is currently working on the second phase of their project, which focuses on rehabilitating this town’s agrarian sector. (PNA) FFC/SQM/ANITA CHRISTINE C. MACALE