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.
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.
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