Cagayan de Oro City — A non-government organization here has built loft for free to the housing units given by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to survivors of Tropical Storm Sendong.

Pastor Alex Eduave, executive director of the Kagayan Evangelical Disaster Response Network, disclosed that his faith-based organization feel the responsibility of transforming the lives of Sendong survivors better by providing the needs of the internally displaced families.

The loft, a space directly under the roof of the house which may be used as a space for sleeping or storage, costs P15,000 each.

“We learn from DSWD that we will transform the lives of the Sendong survivors by not just providing relief goods, but, holistically,” said Pastor Eduave.

He added that, like DSWD and other national government agencies, “we are building better lives for the needy.”

The Christian minister stressed that his organization, a newly accredited civil society organization of DSWD Northern Mindanao, “only responded to God’s commandment.

“Life is simple. Love God and love others,” he said.

Built through the DSWD’s Core Shelter Assistance Program (CSAP), and in cooperation with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the Cagayan de Oro Local Government Unit (CDO LGU), and Habitat for Humanity (HFH),  structurally strong and indigenous shelter units were constructed in disaster safe relocation/resettlement areas and the families are assured that their new homes can withstand wind velocities of up to 220 kilometers per hour and earthquakes up to intensity four (4).

The KEDRN has finished constructing 500 lofts to houses in Calaanan Phase III inside the 9.5-hectare Calaanan Ressetlement Site in Barangay Canitoan this city. Calaaanan Phase III has 1,262 houses.

The organization has also given free double-deck beds to survivors who are living inside the housing units donated by the Filipino-Chinese community.

Typhoon Sendong hit the city last December 2011 leaving nearly 400,000 homeless and more than 1,200 dead in Northern Mindanao.###smu