Former drug dependents join Yolanda relief efforts

‘YOLANDA’ SURVIVOR Melvin Castro sits in the rubble of his home in Tacloban City where 18 of his family members were killed. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines—It’s their turn to do a heavenly deed.

After being moved by the devastation of Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” about 40 former drug users have pooled their resources to rebuild 89 houses in Leyte.

In a report on the news website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, the members of the group are still under a rehabilitation program at the Fazenda da Esperanca, a treatment center in Masbate.

It said that the young men “were so moved” with the plight of the survivors that they immediately volunteered to rebuild the communities in Leyte.

“They could not bear to just watch and listen to reports about the destruction of lives and property left by typhoon ‘Yolanda,’” Romeo Vital, New City Press Philippines Operations Manager, said in the report.

Vital said the group contacted a Focolare, a non-government organization that promotes brotherhood community in Leyte, so that they could start on the work of rebuilding houses.

According to the report, the group went to Leyte with a truck loaded with construction materials and worked on the 89 houses upon arriving.

Also, the group, along with members of Focolare, would continue their work in Leyte starting next week to facilitate the formation of the survivors that need to restore their moral conduct after the devastation of “Yolanda.”

RELATED STORIES

Singapore president to visit PH for ‘Yolanda’ aid, trade

Rebuilding homes, lives in Yolanda-shattered Bantayan