Eleven families living along the riverbanks in Barangay Bobontugan in Jasaan, Misamis Oriental affected by Typhoon Odette were recipients of construction materials donated by the various chapters of Rotary Club (RC) under District 3870 to help them rebuild their houses.

Engineer Almarco Brito, past president of RC West and project lead, said the total donations contributed by the district reached PHP300,000, which they bought for raw materials in constructing houses.

“After the typhoon, we visited the area and made assessments. We saw a resident who was a stroke survivor and was living in a tent so we decided that giving them relief goods is not enough, but they also need to rebuild their shelters,” he said in an interview Saturday.

The project was first proposed by RC West but other chapters eventually joined the endeavor.

Clifford Jose Roa, current president of RC West, said five of the 11 target houses are almost complete.

“We budgeted PHP25,000 per house, and it’s not impossible that we can extend help to the survivors of the typhoon by bringing back their house and their dignities,” he said.

One of the beneficiaries was Michie Valdon, a widow with eight children and one among them was a person with a disability.

Valdon said she returned to Bobontugan to help with his father and when the typhoon came, the Bobontugan river overflowed, causing their house to be destroyed.

“Their (Rotary Club) help was very timely as we could not do it (rebuilding their houses) alone,” she added in vernacular.

Meanwhile, town mayor Redentor Jardin said a mega dike project worth PHP600,000 will be constructed in their community as part of the anti-flooding infrastructure of the local government and the province of Misamis Oriental.

“We already gave the estimated program details and budgeting to the district engineer (of the provincial government) and hopefully it will be approved this year,” he said. (PNA)