This year’s Youth Build is expected to be one of the biggest youth gatherings in the country. Over 5,000 youth will converge at Habitat Youth Build 2014 “Tagbo. Tukod. Tana!”
“Tagbo. Tukod. Tana!” as this year’s
Habitat for Humanity “Youth Build”, happening simultaneously on
May 3, 2014 in five key provinces in the country, to make a
commitment to help rebuild homes across calamity-stricken areas in
the Philippines.
Beginning May 3, young volunteers will sweat it
out as they get their gloves, hard hats, and shovels ready to begin
the construction of Habitat houses in earthquake-hit areas in Bohol,
and Yolanda-affected communities in Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and
Naga. After Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) destroyed parts of the country
in November last year, Habitat launched its “Re-Build PH”
campaign with a target to rebuild 30,000 houses. This year’s Youth
Build aims to rally the youth to do their share to meet this target.
“Rebuilding the Philippines is everyone’s
responsibility. This time, we want to gather our youth and tap into
their passion and energy to help get the job done while at the same
time serving as role models to the younger generation,” shares
Charlie Ayco, Habitat for Humanity Philippine’s CEO and Managing
Director.
“Tagbo. Tukod. Tana!”
Since the build-sites are mostly around the
Visayas region, this year’s theme was taken from the local Visayan
dialect-- “Tagbo. Tukod. Tana!” (Let’s gather. Let’s
build. Let’s do it.) It hopes to speak more urgently to the
Visayan youth to rise to the challenge of helping their own
neighbors, friends, and kababayans rebuild their own
communities by taking part in the Youth Build.
“For us to be able to truly move forward from
the horrors of the earthquake and typhoon, we need to work
hand-in-hand as one community-- the progress of one is the progress
of all. We encourage the Boholanos to help their kababayans,
because by doing so they are helping the entire province,” Ayco
adds.
Rebuilding 7,000 houses in Bohol
In October last year, a magnitude 7.2
earthquake rocked parts of Bohol leaving houses in shambles and
families homeless. The Youth Build targets to rebuild 7,000 homes in
16 municipalities across the province providing decent shelter to
families still living in tents and make-shift houses.
To kick-off festivities in Bohol on May 3, a
motorcade of celebrity youth supporters will take place in the
morning leading all the way to the Habitat site in Loon, Bohol where
Habitat’s Youth Council will begin the initial build. To cap the
day, a youth concert open to the public will be staged to further
urge the Boholano youth to respond to the call.
Other local festivities to kick-off the “Youth
Build” will also happen in Cebu, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Naga.
The Habitat Youth Build is a
movement that engages young people to raise funds for, and awareness
of the poverty housing situation in the Asia-Pacific region where one
in eight people live in slums, according to the United Nations.
Now on its third year, the
annual campaign challenges the youth to do something concrete
to help. Young people from 11 other Habitat countries across the
region will also participate and build or repair
homes for low-income families.
Habitat for Humanity Philippines is a global
non-profit organization committed to addressing the housing backlog
in the country.
To know more about Habitat and its programs, log on
to www.habitat.org.ph.
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