Ray Silva

Typhoon Haiyan hit the Southern Philippines in November 2013, thousands lost everything and moved to other islands in the region in an attempt to start again. Now some 10 months later nothing has changed and many live in temporary and unsafe structures put together and built from whatever they can find.

My partner of the past 2 years is a Filipino from the Island of Cebu, close to - but spared the force of the seas and winds that devestated the island of Leyte just to the south, when the typhoon hit.  My partners family was not spared though, her aunt lost everything and was forced to return to the USA where she is now in charge of relief and fund raising in the aftermath. Having seen private family video and photos of the disaster last Christmas it really hit hard; and over the past few months I have been working on acquiring land which can be used to build 'Nipa Hut' housing for those in need. Futhermore, all land around the Nipa Huts will be used to grow fruit & vegetables to enable self sufficiency and/or to on sell at local markets. The housing will be provided without cost or conditions to people from Leyte now living on Cebu so they can move on and start rebuilding their lives.




The plan is to build 10 or more Nipa Huts (as below)


...each with basic plumbing and electricity and capable of housing 1 family of 4 or more people.  All raw materials and labour will be sourced from the local Cebu region and Nipa Huts manufactured by a Cebu City based business (this will also keep locals employed) and transported to a location 1.5 - 2 hours south of the city on Cebu Island.  For all intent and purposes the Nipa huts will look like a basic traditional hut on the outside but inside will be more like a regular house with windows, bathrooms, tiled floors and power outlets - for more information see Edbamboo for the quality of workmanship one local plus other locals produce.    

Inside the Nipa Huts



Google Maps Cebu Island



The aim of this project is to house people and give them a decent place to live, the Philippines Government is a long way behind with helping people, and it's up to people who can afford it to show the care to help. 

So let's turn this....


...into this!

The first option is to rent the land, this can be arranged for a 10 year lease with options to extend a further 5 to 10 years. However if funding goes beyond the amount requested the land will be purchased outright. Also any further funding will be used to purchase and install more Nipa Huts, Water and Septic Systems, and if possible in the future to install solar power and drill a deep bore well to enable greater self sufficiency and not be reliant on the poor infrastructure.

All amounts below have been converted from Philippine Peso to AUD at the rate of 40-1 and rounded up to the nearest $10 value.

$11000    10 year land lease (with possible extension 15-20 years)
                 *Land Purchase price $28-35000
$2250     water tanks 2000 litres x 6 ($375 per unit)
$350       Power to site
$380       Concrete Footings 
$200       Land clearing 
$470       Plumbing
$2800    Sewerage/Septic Tank System
$8500    Nipa Huts x 10    ($850 per unit)
$580      Heavy Machinery Hire 
$300      Labour
$350      Landscaping
$750      Incidentals
$250      Wall of Fame
$500      Fees and Permits
$3250    2 x Self Contained air conditioned Nipa Huts.

Total Cost  $31930


Inside Air Conditioned Nipa Hut

The challenges for this project are few and not great, the arranging of obtaining land and constructing the site is no problem. One hurdle will be the screening of the future residents to ensure we do not have 20 people trying to live in the one hut. This will be overcome by utilising my partner, her friends and family whom are all locals and will explain the rules and requirements to be eligible to live in the site and use a nipa hut.

The other issue will be for the security of the site when developement starts. Initially one Nipa Hut is being moved onto the site where i'll live temporarily whilst each phase of construction takes place. Once we have at least 5 huts in place the first families are to be moved in this will increase security and speed up the developement and landscaping processes. When this occurs the first hut where i set up temporary residence will be given to a  new family;  and I will drive to the site daily from the city of Cebu.