Activities and Updates

The Pope Francis Village has the following project components:
   
  Land Acquisition and Site Development
A 12.8 hectare property has already been purchased for the project which is comparably accessible than the resettlement project established by the City Government of Tacloban for Typhoon Yolanda affected families.

The property located in Barangay Diit, Tacloban City, was assessed by a team of Architects, Geodetic and Geologists and found to be very suitable for the establishment of the Pope Francis Village.

Technical assessment shows that the said property is very ideal for the following:
  • Construction of resilient housing units as the property is a little hilly which makes it much less vulnerable to flooding, storm surge and strong wind and can very well served as the evacuation area for the people in case of flooding and storm surge.
  •   Very near the main national road;
  • Accessible to all kinds of land transportation; and,
  • Near market centers for the livelihoods of the beneficiaries
  
The 12.8 hectare property and Site Development Plan
 for Pope Francis Village at Barangay Diit, Tacloban City
         Building of Permanent Shelters
Each of the 550 poor household selected as beneficiaries of this project shall be given decent, durable and disaster resilient housing unit complete with toilet, water and electrical facilities. However, the beneficiaries shall be oriented towards “responsible stewardship” of their shelter and the community as a whole. We recognize that access to decent housing is a basic human right and guarantees living in dignity and so to preserve this right and dignity and make it sustainable, the beneficiaries shall be geared towards becoming responsible stewards of the model community entrusted to them. A concrete “PFV management systems and policies” shall be developed of which leaders and members shall be trained to manage the entire model community.

Communities trained on Basic Architectural and Structural
 Plan Reading
Rebuilding of Local Economy
The project also involves restoration of people’s livelihoods by supporting a variety of economic activities including fishing, agriculture, small business and home-craft, among others. The opportunity to earn income via employment, operation or owning an enterprise is fundamental in meeting their own needs – purchasing food and daily necessities; access to health, education, water, electricity and leisure. To ensure that the families living in the permanent relocation site will have regular and permanent sources of income, a “Livelihood Development Plan” will be developed that is reflective of the  following:
  • Resource inventory (available skills and resources)
  •  Market analysis and programming identifying potential products and market channels
  •  Improving capacity building on developing and managing enterprises
  • Development of appropriate community-managed enterprise models
  • Delivery of Business Development Services (BDS) and market facilitation
  • Establishment of linkage for financial services e.g. link to Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs)
  • Acquisition of Productive Assets
  • Establishment of partnerships with concerned institutions as possible sources of technologies, market information and finance. 

  Building of Community Social Service Facilities (ie. church, schools, parks, community centers and sports center) and Disaster Risk Reduction measures 
It is expected that families in the model community shall have their planning activities; undergo trainings and workshops for purposes of enhancing their skills and knowledge for improving their livelihoods, engaging themselves in lobby and advocacy activities. Such collective activities shall be held in community social services facilities. Likewise, the community social services facilities, church and parks shall guarantee venue for many community events and activities, including family get-togethers, Sunday worship services, sports activities, outreach programs such as medical missions, youth gatherings, and model organizational meetings. In coordination with the Regional Department of Education and LGU of Tacloban, a primary school shall be built to ensure access to education of children living in the model community. 

Construction of a Two Storey School Building at Barangay 100 San Roque, Tacloban City
that can accommodate 3,600 elementary school children of Yolanda survivors

Inherent in this integrated, people-driven model community project is building community capacities on disaster preparedness. A disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) mechanism shall be installed to the model community. It will start by building “disaster resilient” housing units for the 550 beneficiaries. DRRM will ensure immediate access to food, water, and other basic needs if and when disaster strikes. 

Organizing and Strengthening of Community Council
The 550 households who will be relocated to the permanent site will be organized into a Community Council (CC) as a sustainability mechanism of the project. The Council is envisioned to be in the forefront of:
  • Managing the permanent relocation site for peoples’ safety and order, maintenance requirements and further physical development;
  • Creation of mechanism to ensure collection of membership contributions/ dues from the 550 family beneficiaries to properly manage the whole relocation site. 
  • Having its own Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Program;
  • Managing its own collective social enterprises;
  •  Participating strongly in local and community governance;
  • Lobbying strongly on issues such as land rights, climate change and disaster preparedness;
  • Managing gender programs or projects responsive to needs of women and children; and;
  • Engaging the government’s and mobilize people on issues affecting their socio-economic status e.g. access to health, education and other basic services. 



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