Gawad Kalinga is not merely about housing projects
Concepcion, Iloilo - Gawad Kalinga (GK) is not about housing. It is about bringing back the dignity of a country and its people.
Gawad Kalinga representative Mr. Peter Tiu said that building a house for a poor family, or for squatters is only the beginning of a process to bring back the dignity of people, especially of Filipinos who are closely attached to the comfort of home.
Tiu said that they accepted President Gloria Arroyo's challenge to build houses for the poor because Gawad Kalinga saw that families cannot form positive values and cannot contribute to national development if they have the "squatter mentality", if they are always "pulled out, relocated somewhere".
GK housing projects are not dole outs, because at these times, one cannot build a comparatively decent housing unit at P50,000, Mark Lawrence Cruz , another GK official said. The beneficiaries have to give their sweat equity, which means about 470 hours, in helping build not only their own houses but that of the whole GK village.
Tiu and Cruz both said that through the housing projects and the continuing values formation that the Couples for Christ and other leaders are doing, GK hopes to help end poverty in the country and bring about full development of the human person.
The GK villages are envisioned as ideal communities where people grow spiritually even as they have to work for their daily sustenance.
Tiu said the residents in a GK village are supposed to have a heal thy outlook in life, a happy disposition, that is why the houses are brightly colored.
"This is also a tourism boost, because by making the villages beautiful, environment-friendly, they inspire others and attract visitors," Tiu said.
Mark Cruz added that the town of Concepcion is one they are very proud of, because of the efforts of the local officials led by Mayor Raul Banias in giving priority to GK projects.
(PIA/ESSubong)