Institutionalized Partnership with EVSU continues through the Summer Volunteer Program

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The Eastern Visayas State University has been an active partner of Pope Francis for Resilient and Co-Empowered Sustainable Communities (FRANCESCO) in the establishment of Pope Francis Village Model Community.  As the university continues to advance its extension program, FRANCESCO's collaboration with the College of Architecture and Allied Discipline  (CAAD) has gained positive reception as proven by  the sustained number of student volunteers presently deployed at the PFV Site. 

Under the supervision of two architects from the Technical Assistance Movement for People and Environment, Inc. (TAMPEI), three architecture graduates and seven undergraduate students are now rendering a one-month volunteer work at the PFV Site. They were mobilized to assist in the development of miniature house design prototypes and 3 dimensional site development model that were all drawn from the series of workshops with members of Pope Francis Village last year.  Their outputs are vital visual reference especially for the various phases of land development and housing construction taking place at the site.  There will also be an exhibit space beside the field office where their outputs will be displayed for purposes of information dissemination and project visibility.  The three architecture graduates on the other hand whose apprenticeship has just started are responsible for construction supervision and monitoring of the first batch of PFV houses.

Arch. Rexan Rainier Cabangal facilitated the
general orientation with EVSU student volunteers.








"When we do random site inspection and monitoring of daily construction accomplishments, I observe that workers are a lot motivated to work. The process being adopted here is quite challenging as most of the workers were unskilled at the time they started to be involved in construction. But what's inspiring about this line of work is that each and everyone has an individual stake in the project. More than the experience that we could gain here, this is my personal contribution to helping my fellow disaster survivors to rebuild their lives better", mused Janelle Aguilar, one of EVSU's architecture graduates. 

For FRANCESCO and TAMPEI, this partnership with a reputable institution like EVSU is a pioneering endeavor to establish a pool of young professionals who are audacious enough to take-on new approaches to post-disaster rehabilitation and recovery. With the scale of housing construction and the foreseen technical demand for the establishment of community facilities in Pope Francis Village, it is only fitting to strengthen this collaborative effort with hope that it transcends professional merit or academic gains. 

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