ILOILO CITY - Following the turn-over ceremony in CLIFF- San Isidro, Jaro in August this year , 18 of the 43 community members already moved in while others are still doing house improvements prior to actual transfer. This first batch of housing participants classified as Category C partly comprised the 172 member-families of the Riverview Homeowners Association, Inc. (RVHOA). It obtained its legal personality from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) just this year.
"It is comfortable and secure here compared to our previous living condition. When it rains even a little I couldn’t sleep the whole night. I need to be vigilant and vacate our house when riverwater touches our floor". says Gina Yarra, the first to occupy the unit in San Isidro.
Members prioritized improving the basic parts of a house at their own expense including labor and materials. Some members utilized recycled the materials they got from their old house while the others really set aside a portion of their income for house improvements. Incremental developments done so far include installation of windows (19 units), doors (17), stairs (20), ceiling (3), beautification of comfort room (15), floor tiling (4), setback improvement (13), perimeter wall fencing, set-up of individual water system (9) and internal wall partition (1). Improvement costs shelled out from members’ own pocket ranges from Php140,000 to Php1,000 or Php22,000 average.
The community seems so busy each day. You can see how people invest their time, money and effort and explore different means just to make their houses beautiful. More and more members are getting inspired to clean and beautify their houses on weekends and they eventually occupy the unit.
“It is easier to call for a meeting now because they’re already here in the site unlike before it was really difficult to get a quorum. When we beautify our houses, we also think about beautifying the whole community” says Richie Jacusalem, member of Category C.
CLIFF is an international programme which supports organized urban poor communities using a strategic venture capital facility. It is funded by the UK-Department for International Development (DFID), managed by UK-based NGO Homeless International.
CLIFF Philippines was made possible through HPFPI's international affiliate Slum Dwellers International (SDI).
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