Homes for the Homeless: Kalinga Cebu set for launching this month

Cebu will soon be a slum-free area, as indigent Cebuanos will soon have houses of their own through a movement that will be launched in Cebu this July.

Dubbed as Kalinga Cebu,, the crusade follows the community development template of the national Gawad Kalinga program, with emphasis on the needs of the Cebu community it serves.

Roland Nillas, Couples for Christ Regional Head said that poverty has been with the Philippines for a long time. With this program, Filipinos living below the poverty line would be given decent homes, education and livelihood instead of being wasted on vices and crime.

Gawad Kalinga, which officially started in 2003, aims to build 700,000 homes in 7,000 communities in 7 years. At present, it already has more than 300 locations and with 200,000 homes built nationwide.

With its launching in Cebu and inspired by their belief that Filipinos are heroes, proponents of the movement expect the launching activities to kindle further involvement in Gawad Kalinga so that more people may bring out the heroes from within themselves and translate this to positive action of helping their fellow Filipinos who are in need.

Starting off the series of events is the GK heroes dinner, a gathering of Gawad Kalinga partners from various sectors to be held on July 22 at the Grand Convention Center. The affair will re-affirm partnerships and establish new ones for the continuing and forthcoming projects, particularly in Cebu.

The following day, July 23, the Cebuano community will be able to participate during the Kalinga Cebu launching at the Sugbu Grounds, South Reclamation project from dawn to late in the night, that would begin with a Takbo Kalinga 10K fun run followed by caravans, exhibits, a mass, and a concert.

The houses and other services in GK are not given as dole outs. Beneficiaries pay them with "sweat equity"-the monetary value of work they render in building their own and their neighbor's house.

In Cebu, GK communities have been built in Jagobiao, Mandaue City, Bantayan, Bogo, Liloan, Sambag 2, Lawaan, Talisay, Naga, and Toledo City. GK has also new sites in Dumanjug, Talisay, Talamban, and Danao City.