Six so-called Happy Homes or nipa houses built by local volunteers and funded by donors from Tzu Chi will be turned over to families who lost their dwellings to typhoon “Odette” as part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Bohol chapter of the international humanitarian organization on 13 December.
Tzu Chi volunteers from Taiwan, including those who helped rehabilitate Bohol in the aftermath of the 2013 earthquake, will grace the simultaneous ribbon-cutting for the Happy Homes in three different barangays and towns, Michael Siao, deputy CEO of Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines says.
Materials of the Happy Homes such as the abakan or woven bamboo walling, were outsourced to locals who were given allowance by Tzu Chi Bohol.
Since “Odette” devastated the province in 2021, Tzu Chi Bohol has been building Happy Homes for displaced families at the rate of two units per week, according to Siao.
The Taiwanese Tzu Chi visitors will also visit the prefabricated classrooms that the organization donated to dozens of local schools that were damaged by the earthquake.
Ten workers completed installing two prefab classrooms in a day, Siao recalls.
A total 150 such classrooms were donated across the island until 2022, including to the Cortes Elementary School which the Taiwanese delegation will tour.
Another group of Tzu Chi volunteers from Taiwan will also join in the celebration by donating secondhand computers to different schools. The group has so far donated about 90 sets of computer.
Tzu Chi Bohol will also conduct medical outreach to locals and tour Taiwanese medical volunteers to the homes of two girls whose lives they saved by treating their scoliosis in Taiwan years ago.