Habitat for Humanity house frame.The Habitat for Humanity found its way to the village of Bual because of its stable peace situation and the determination of the community, through its "peace and development advocates" or PDAs to provide houses to the residents.
“The community shows that Christians, Muslims and indigenous peoples can live and work together and can unite for peace and development,” said Rev. David Salazar of Habitat for Humanity, who is also the founder and president of the Jesus is Alive World Mission International, Inc.
He did not say when the construction of the houses would start.
The European Union will fund the construction of the houses, which will be built by the homeowners themselves and volunteers. Homeowners will have to repay the cost of the construction and materials through affordable and no-interest mortgage loans. The payments return to local revolving funds which allow more houses to be built.
Bual is one of the first communities declared as a “peace zone” after the signing of the peace agreement between the Filipino government and the Moro National Liberation Front in September 1996.
The Catholic Relief Service and the Kadtuntaya Foundation were among the first groups to assist the community that led to the declaration of the “peace zone.” The United Nations Multi-Donor Programme 3 (UNMDP3) also helped tranform the village into the so-called "peace and development community" or PDCs in 2002.
PDCs are conflict-affected or conflict-vulnerable communities that are now engaged in social and economic transformation with the assistance of development partners and local government units to sustain peace and development in the areas. These communities are also envisioned to be the convergence areas of development assistance to provide holistic interventions that make impact to the people.
“Resources are rationalized and duplication is avoided in convergence. It also motivates people to work hard and take care of programs and projects,” said Cynthia Guerra, South Central Mindanao area manager of the ACT for Peace Programme, the successor program to UNMDP3. The Programme is implemented by the Mindanao Economic Development Council and supported by Australia, New Zealand and Spain to sustain peace-building efforts in Southern Philippines.
The UNMDP3 and ACT for Peace helped provide skills to community leaders of PDCs, through PDAs who do community work and link their communities to other donor agencies, civil society groups and other development partners.
In peace and development communities, PDAs also assist in establishing conflict-management mechanism where traditional leaders or council of elders are involved to resolve conflicts. These mechanisms help sustain peace in communities and attract development initiatives to the areas.
In Bual, the Habitat for Humanity will also provide training to some residents in masonry and carpentry skills that would be needed in building their houses.
After the training, the participants will seek certification from Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and those who will be certified as skilled workers will be sent to the central Philippine province of Leyte to provide additional labor force in other Habitat for Humanity projects.
“These efforts show that people, who may come from different background, can understand one another and work for peace and development,” Salazar said.
Habitat for Humanity is an international, ecumenical Christian, non-governmental, non-profit organization devoted to building "simple, decent, and affordable" housing. Homes are built using volunteer labor and are sold at no profit, with no interest charged on the mortgage.
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