Underway since 2014, the project has touched 1.4 million Filipinos. The 2013 disaster affected 3,424,593 families in nine regions, causing the death of 6,193 people and injuring another 28,689. The Catholic Church, together with Caritas, raised about US$ 61 million.
Manila (AsiaNews/CBCP) – The Catholic Church has built more than 30,000 homes for the victims of typhoon Yolanda, the most devastating weather event ever recorded.
Caritas Philippines released the figures on the fifth anniversary of the typhoon, which hit the island of Leyte in 2013.
The disaster affected 3,424,593 families in nine regions, causing the death of 6,193 people and injuring another 28,689. In 2015, Pope Francis visited the area.
The rehabilitation programme for the area, undertaken in 2014, includes improvements in housing, livelihood, water, sanitation and health, community organisation, and ecosystem recovery.
The project, a collaboration between Caritas and local dioceses, reached more than 1.4 million Filipinos.
Several international organisations took part in the project: Catholic Relief Service (US); Caritas Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Austria; Development and Peace (D&P); and Cordaid.
Housing was built in the provinces of Leyte, Samar, Palawan, Cebu, Iloilo, Aklan, Capiz, Antique and other areas devastated by super-typhoon Yolanda.
To meet the multiple needs of the population, the Church raised more than 3.2 billion Philippine pesos (almost US$ 61 million).