Synthesis and Recommendations

Synthesis

The critical problem that the project encountered is on the proper system and designation in aligning their priorities on the early stage of the development of the project. The reclamation of the site was a necessary move to make the site suited for residential development. However, the project team was not able to anticipate the drawbacks of the reclamation especially on the tight financial condition of the entire project. The team was not able to consider other alternatives that would fit their constricted financial capability. For this, we have reasons to believe that the project lacked on planning, especially on appropriate feasibility studies that would supposedly present the project team the benefits, drawbacks, limitations, potentials, and alternatives that best fit the project.

Furthermore, the lack of community participation to the project caused also the letdown of the project. The community was not able to appreciate the possible benefits of the project to the entire community.



Recommendations

This paper recommends that before the onset construction of GK Villages, feasibility studies and focus group discussions must be conducted to optimize the success rate of the project. On-site community-development programs are difficult to control because of the fact that culture and habits have already settled-in on the residents of the site. These factors are difficult to manipulate and so all foreseen affecting factors must be dealt with accordingly beforehand. This can be done through preparatory studies.

Upon the approval and the beginning of the construction of the project, a qualified supervisory team of volunteers must be tasked in foreseeing the project development. Especially since this project is a community development project, communication lines between all parties involved must at all times be open. Hence, community forums or focus group discussions with the beneficiaries must be conducted during the duration of the project. In these forums, satisfaction levels can be numerically rated.

For the existing GK Waterlily Village, the status of the site can be improved through promoting the existing conditions of the site. By making it known that this particular site needs help, interested volunteers will be well-informed and shall know where to place their assistance. Before that, an assertive supervisory GK team must be organized to oversee these actions and eventually to oversee the project development changes for the GK Waterlily Village. These approaches may bring interest to the site and encourage beneficiaries to participate more willingly. The improvement of the GK Waterlily Village lies in the assertion of the organizing team.

Resident Satisfaction

Quality of Open Spaces

The open spaces within the village are very poor. These spaces are disorganized, almost organic to a point, and are not clean. It lacks outdoor furniture (i.e. lamp posts, benches) and is not even definite. These open spaces may simply be the un-paved streets or paths that are also being used for community interaction. The width of the streets and the water area of the site provide potentially good breathing spaces.

Quality of Pedestrian Spaces

Without physically defined spaces for pedestrian use, the community had to come up with make-shift structures made of local materials. At present state, these structures are in bad conditions and are located in unsuitable portions of the site. The streets are also readily being used as interaction areas.

Quality of Residential Spaces

Since there the GK Waterlily is situated within an existing site, there is no uniformity in the images of the residential structures inside the site. Some residential units are more developed while others are completely blighted. There are only two distinct Gawad Kalinga Units. The first unit owned by Mrs. Mary Humawid is completed and is now bounded by a makeshift periphery wall made of galvanized iron sheets. The second unit is a duplex-type residence, each half of the duplex owned by siblings Feliz Urqiuola, Jr. and Mrs. Aladad. The unit is still under construction and the owners are currently living in a makeshift settlement adjacent to the construction.

Quality of Security

The quality of the security within the site is poor. Since there isn’t a definite air of friendliness within the neighborhood and considering the variations of the income brackets living in the site, there is a tendency for the well-off to construct high walls and fences to gain their own sense of security. This alienates the other structures of the neighborhood.

Quality of Vehicular Space

The width of the streets are adequate for pedestrian traffic but since tricycles are the immediate mode of transportation within the site (second to walking), the street width can be poor. However, it is more practiced by the residents to be dropped off the entrance point of the site and to walk to their respective houses. At this point, security becomes and issue. There are also no provisions for parking leaving residents no choice but to park along the streets, further crowding the pathwalks.

Identified Housing Issues

Social

A critical concern that is constantly tackled on the social issue in housing is the existence of an imbalanced society. The elements of an imbalance society includes the inefficiency of services being offered to the community, the declining health condition of the community members, low productivity, and the blight of the physical environment within the community.
Unfortunately, these elements were seen on the site. One of the beneficiaries noted that their GK site is almost considered as a failure especially in its goal of transforming the village into a better form/state. As clearly seen in the village, the site exhibited blighted homes and other public facilities which were obviously not well maintained. Other physical structures also showed the blight physical environment of the village.

These scenes clearly established the inefficiency of the services given to the community which basically reflect the failure of the political system in effectively providing the needed/basic services for the community. The living condition in the Waterlily village clearly put on view how socially disadvantaged the people there are.

Technological

Like all other GK projects, the dwelling units in the Water lily Village utilized housing technologies that are affordable/cost effective; the materials are readily available, and durable.
They made use of concrete hollow blocks that is designed to be filled with less mortar. This design will greatly lessen the expenditure of cement and gravel thereby lowering the material cost in construction. The truss system of the dwelling units made use of the steel truss system which is more cost effective and durable than the usual timber truss system.
In land reclamation, the equipment costs and the costs of acquiring land for filling the swampy areas inflated and eventually lead to the existing problems of the GK Waterlily site. No systematic or cost innovations were employed for land reclamation.

Security

Security is also a major issue in the site. The village is open and has no means of regulating the entry and exit of individuals that come and go. Although the village has a definite entrance area and is seemingly bounded by the periphery walls of adjacent properties, there was no sense of definite order or authoritative entities that can control the order within the village. The village also lacks in other public structures (lamp post, etc) that may augment the need of the community for a safe neighborhood.

Environmental

Upon reaching the Waterlily compound, the initial image of the area is that of an un-reformed slum. Although the residents of the compound were reasonably friendly, they were unfamiliar with the GK Program, which was due to the meager number of beneficiaries for the program. The compound is secluded with a radial layout with the body of water as the epicenter. However, the growth of the village is organic with unplanned constructions of furthermore makeshift dwellings. Hence, the overall arrangement of the dwelling units is cluttered. The width of the streets and paths were considerably wide, reminiscent of a gridiron street planning but upon nearing the wet areas, the street organization faded.

Economic

The beneficiaries of the GK project in Waterlily Village relied on the livelihood programs that the CFC has provided them. Harvesting waterlilies for export and making hand crafted products are the main livelihood activities that were introduced to the beneficiaries to supplement to their insufficient family income.

Historical Background

Foundation
The GK project in the Waterlily Village was supposedly the pilot venture of the Couples for Christ (CFC) in Davao city of their GK Tatag program. Its first beneficiaries were its members who qualified to the screening process and receive formation on values and other character building formations from the CFC. There were at least twenty families who were awarded with the GK housing program.


Development
The Waterlily village was already a developed community when the GK project settled in. The blight condition of the existing community gave the CFC the reason to develop the site into a better community. Moreover, other NGOs have also already established some projects in the village -livelihood and basic education programs- which further made the site a plausible area for development.

The site before the project commenced was a swampy area unsuitable for any residential development. The administrators of the project insisted for the site to be developed and eventually decided to reclaim the area. However, portions of the site were already inhabited by some settlers (with their houses on stilts) and barred the reclamation steps of the project. For this reason, only a small section of the site was reclaimed for residential development.

The GK project first constructed the dwelling units made out of local materials such as nipa and coco lumber. There were five dwellings units that were constructed. Eventually, they constructed dwelling units made out of concrete and steel materials.

Problems Encountered
Problems on the construction of the GK site started with the development of the site. The reclamation of the swampy areas in the village took much of the time and finances of the project that the allocation for the budget of constructing the dwelling units was greatly affected. Mrs. Aladad confided that a large portion of the budget for the project was diverted to the reclamation of the site. For this reason, the construction of the houses was often interrupted due to lack of funding. Eventually, some of the beneficiaries grew impatient of the slow phase and progress of the project and decisively forfeited their benefits as recipients of the GK housing project.
Although the main/original goal of the GK project was not only to build homes for its beneficiaries but also to develop the entire village/community, the project received less support from community members. In fact, only few individuals from the village actually knew the existence of the GK project and its beneficiaries.






Current State
The GK project in the Waterlily village is a far cry compared to the other GK projects of the CFC in the Davao area. The entire site is unorganized and its development is unsystematic.
Currently, only one dwelling unit has finished its construction. There is a duplex unit for two family beneficiaries that is still under construction for about almost a year now. The other dwelling units that were first constructed that were made out of local materials have already been ruined and are already considered unfit for occupancy.
The development of the reclamation plan for the swampy areas is still unfinished. Plans for construction of additional dwelling units are brought to a standstill up until the reclamation is completed.

The Site

The GK Waterlily Village is located in Brgy. Aquino, Agdao, Davao City. It was established 2 yrs ago under the supervision of the Couples for Christ Member, Mr. Erwin Pagdalian. It is located within the dense residential areas of Agdao. The surrounding structures of the village range from middle-class residential structures to sporadic informal settlements.
The geological property of the site is swampy. It has considerably large but shallow areas of stagnant water, densely vegetated with water lilies, from which the village got its name. Due to the GK Waterlily project, land reclamation processes have been undergoing on an irregular basis. At present, there is still approximately 600 square meters of un-reclaimed water areas.

Background: The Program

The Gawad Kalinga (GK) is a product of the initiative of the non-government organization "Couples for Christ". It began in the year 1995 with a rehabilitation project for out-of-school youths and eventually grew into a nation-building program. Its vision now includes the uplifting of poverty-stricken areas by building self-help homes for the "poorest of the poor".
Specific GK Programs that are relative to this particular vision include (as taken from the Gawad Kalinga website [URL: http://www.GawagKalinga.org]):

“(1) The Shelter & Site Development or GK TATAG,
With GK TATAG, GAwad Kalinga assists the building of colorful, durable and secure homes for the poorest of the poor. TATAG in the Filipino language means “to build” or “to establish.” The program also provides other physical structures such as path walks and drainage systems, water and toilet facilities, a school, a livelihood center, a multi-purpose hall and a clinic. In some areas, other structures such as basketball courts and libraries are also constructed once basic infrastructure needs are set up.

“(2) Productivity
Through GAWAD KABUHAYAN (translated to “to give livelihood” in Filipino), GK conducts livelihood and skills training, provides start up capital and materials for microfinance and micro-enterprise, and assists in the marketing of the GK communities’ products. Food self sufficiency is highly encouraged by teaching technology for backyard farming, urban agriculture and poultry-raising.

“(3) Values Formation/Community Empowerment
Every GK community is organized into a KAPITBAHAYAN Neighborhood Association, which is established to inculcate stewardship and ensure accountability, cooperation and unity. Guidelines for community living are decided upon by the members, and new leaders who espouse the values of the association start to emerge.

“(4) Mabuhay
Our [GK] communities showcase the best of the Filipino--warmth, hospitality, and the many colors and dimensions of our rich culture. We aim to make every GK Village a tourist spot showcasing the inherent charm and uniqueness of each community. The beauty of the Philippines lies not only in its natural resources but in the triumph of our people against poverty and oppression. Inspiring stories are well told in the vibrant smiles and shining eyes of our residents in our GK communities.”

The Gawad Kalinga strongly adheres to the concept-of nation building, which they believe is achievable through uplifting these poverty-stricken communities not only with programs that are for rebuilding homes but also with programs that aim to change the outlook of the residents of these affected areas. The GK proudly speaks of successful GK Villages with happy residents. GK communities help residents become “proud of their homes, grateful for their blessings and hopeful for the future“ so that in even the very act of building homes, additional perspectives are given like bayanihan. Not only that, the GK also provides training services in masonry and carpentry skills since “the poor ‘pay’ for their homes through ‘sweat equity’ or by building their neighbor’s house side by side with the GK volunteers”i which is believed to “not only build community spirit but also contribute(s) to greater peace. After all, how can a GK Homeowner fight the neighbor who helped him build his house? Peace is achieved not by force, but by mutual adherence to an agreed set of values. This new culture is the key to the community’s sustainability, and sets the community on the road to self reliance.”ii
However, are all GK Villages truly successful projects? Given that there are a multitude of factors that could affect nation-building, can the above-mentioned programs be the answer to the eradication of poverty? With these questions in mind, this paper explores one particular Gawad Kalinga Village (GK Waterlily) and evaluates the success rate of the project. This paper aims to present the actual condition of this Gawad Kalinga village and discuss the relative issues affecting it in order to synthesize the effectivity of self-help housing building programs.

i www.Gawag Kalinga.org

ii www.Gawag Kalinga.org