Shelter the People Project aims to build a multifunctional facility in the Philippines for victims of natural disasters, which is a frequent occurrence. This space will be used as safe housing during emergency evacuations.
Every year, the Philippines is hit by typhoons, causing widespread damage to homes, roadways and villages. When disaster strikes, people often lose their basic human needs such as food, water and shelter. Just on Christmas Day of 2019, Typhoon Phanfone brought winds of up to 190km per hour, causing landslides and flooding to villages, which meant thousands of families were displaced, and left to fend for themselves.
Villages waited weeks for both water and electric services to be restored. In most cases home owners are forced to rebuild their homes year after year, using damaged materials left behind by the storms to quickly shelter themselves before the next storm arrives.
We are five sisters, of Filipino/Australian decent, trying to gather funds to build a hurricane-proof evacuation shelter in Samar, the third largest island in the Philippines located in Eastern Visayas within central Philippines.
Currently, there is no such centre in Samar, in San Roque and neighbouring villages to be precise. It is our mission to construct a hurricane proof shelter, which in other times will be a multifunctional space, a facility for homeless, or orphaned children, and women escaping domestic violence, which is truly the heart of this project.
Being a third world country, government assistance is little or close to none. It is common to see little children roaming the streets at night, vulnerable to any danger, simply because there is no safe place to go. These children are left unprotected.
We are passionate about this project because we believe everyone deserves a second chance and every human being has the right to have a roof over their heads, and the right to feel safe. Being mothers ourselves it is our natural instinct to protect all children.
Our drive and motivation to take this project on is perfectly synced with this old Chinese proverb :
“ If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody.”
For centuries, the greatest thinkers have suggested the same thing : Happiness is found in helping others.
Thank you in advance for your donations and please follow us on Instagram : shelter.the.people where we will be providing additional information, and updates once we have reached our target goal. Together we can all make a difference.
Great project Marie! Good luck with it :)