Uprooted trees to be used for temporary shelters of Yolanda victims

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna, Philippines – Thousands of trees that Yolanda had uprooted will be used to build temporary shelters for survivors of the typhoon.

The trees, mostly coconut, will also be used to repair damaged buildings and other structures.

Working along this line are the Los Baños-based Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute (DOST-FPRDI) and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Eastern Visayas. FPRDI, based in the University of the Philippines Los Baños, has deployed a task force in Tacloban City and Marabut, Eastern Samar to work closely with the DENR in Eastern Visayas in harnessing the fallen trees.

Francisco Lapitan of the institute’s Technology Innovation division said the team is helping cut fallen trees cluttering roads in Eastern Visayas.

“Aside from lending the institute’s own units of mobile sawmill and chainsaw, FPRDI has trained staff workers of the DENR and Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on the operation of these woodworking facilities,” he said.       

FPRDI director Romulo Aggangan also said FPRDI is one with the nation in helping people in the Visayas get back on their feet. 

“We hope that the deployment of our facilities and manpower will help meet the region’s critical need for housing materials,” he said.        

The institute had earlier designed and fabricated two low-cost, environment-friendly alternative shelter models that suit the needs of Yolanda’s victims.                

These are the “F-House” (a portable, collapsible and foldable house) and the “Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Bamboo Shelter.”    

The F-House, so named because it is a “fast-build, firm and foldaway” emergency shelter, has been patented with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines. 

This invention of former FPRDI director Florence Soriano and researchers Thomas  Rolan Rondero and Claro Carino can be easily constructed in one to two days with simple tools by a few laborers and transferred from one place to another. “Thus, it could be easily set up in affected areas to serve as a temporary house for affected families and storage area for relief goods and medicines,” FPRDI said. The STAR learned that an international research entity has ordered one unit of the model for its R&D use.  

The DIY Bamboo Shelter is durable as it is made of kiln-dried miscellaneous lumber and buho.   

The Presidential Assistant on Rehabilitation and Recovery (PARR) is set to present the DIY Bamboo Shelter concept to some interested stakeholders as a possible alternative type of temporary shelter for Yolanda survivors.

Therapy experts

A team of American therapy experts specializing in helping survivors of traumatic incidents recover will fly to Tacloban City and Bohol to give free mass tension and trauma releasing exercise (TRE) therapy sessions for survivors of Yolanda and the earthquake in Central Visayas.

TRE expert Chris Balsley and his 17-man team will be joined by some 50 recent trainees from various local humanitarian and disaster response groups.

“The level of commitment that I see in the students and the dedication to spread the word is inspiring,” Balsley said of the high interest and participation of local individuals in their free Train the Trainers session who want to learn TRE and help in the effort to help survivors of disasters.

Fifty people signed up and underwent training to be certified to continue administering TRE to communities and individuals.

Balsley and his 17-man international TRE team’s trip to the Philippines was organized by the Human Capital Development (HCD) Asia Pacific, as a humanitarian assistance to the Philippines, especially in the wake of Yolanda’s mass trauma.

Beth MacDonald, HCD Asia Pacific chairman, said Balsley’s group,  which includes 17 trainers from the US, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, has administered the free TRE training to local disaster response and other humanitarian personnel. – With Rainier Allan Ronda