When Super Typhoon made landfall just two towns away from Argao, Cebu, the damage in the area was catastrophic.

Cebu Caritas’s housing project in Cansuje, an upland barangay in Argao, is determined to build back safer. This is why they make sure the foundation is solid, the roof durable, and the walls are made of cement until mid-height and the rest made of marine plywood. The house itself is just a single room, but with two doors so that the family has an option to build an extension when it has more resources.

In selecting beneficiaries, Cebu Caritas selected those with vulnerable members of the family: elderly and chronically ill, pregnant or lactating mothers, PWDs, and young children.

The Cansuje housing project is funded by TYF from donations for Odette rehabilitation. TYF provided P2,250,000 for the construction of 31 houses, which have already been completed and turned over to be blessed by Archbishop Jose Palma early next month.

The third Odette-rehab project supported by TYF in Baclayon, Bohol, is the Immaculata High School, a venerable structure more than 50 years old.

After assessing the roof, which was partially but substantially damaged by the super typhoon, the Parish Technical Committee deemed it necessary to replace the entire roof, erect new columns, and install new girders, steel trusses, and purlins.

Construction work commenced even though the school had difficulty raising the entire amount needed for reconstruction. TYF’s donation of P1,287,638 completed the project budget. Immaculata High School expects the reconstruction to finish soon.

One of the many groups keenly watching -- and dreading -- the spread of the oil spill from Mindoro are fishing communities in Taytay, northern Palawan.

Last month, 145 families had just received materials for seaweed farming from the Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay Social Action Center and immediately set up the lines. The P2.7-M donation, one of TYF's Odette livelihood projects, provides start-up materials for 316 families and the establishment of a seaweed nursery in the Sto Padre Pio Mission Station in Taytay.

On March 13, the Palawan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office reported the oil spill had already started to reach Taytay. As the slick spread to their community, farmers hurriedly harvested the premature seaweeds.

We pray that government and support organizations can immediately contain the oil spill before it causes more damage to coastal habitats and communities.

Residents in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, have been through extreme challenges in the last year. This area was among those worst hit by Super Typhoon Odette. A few months later, several communities underwent forcible evacuation due to military operations. They had barely recovered when Severe Tropical Storm Paeng caused widespread destruction in farming and fishing communities.

TYF is providing P626,100 worth of livelihood rehab support through the Diocese of Kabankalan Social Action Center. This includes distribution of piglets to nine families in the upland barangay of Camingawan, Kabankalan. Families expect to raise the pigs for five months before bringing these to market.