South Korea helps school with $4M

THE SOUTH Korean government has donated $4 million to reconstruct two buildings of the Visayas State University (VSU) in Leyte that were severely damaged by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in 2013.

South Korean Ambassador Kim Jae-shin led the groundbreaking rites for the reconstruction of the administration and dormitory buildings on VSU’s Tolosa campus, along with VSU and Commission on Higher Education officials.

Kim, in a statement issued by the Korean Embassy in Manila on Monday, said the reconstruction project was his country’s way of helping the recovery in the stricken area.

The project will be funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency at a cost of P185 million ($4 million) and is scheduled for completion by late 2017.

The main building will house classrooms while the dormitory will accommodate 240 students. The buildings will comply with national safety standards against typhoons, making them safe and sustainable.

“I am confident these facilities will motivate the students for higher learning and nurture their potential to contribute to the development of Leyte and the rest of the country,” Kim said in his keynote speech.

VSU president Dr. Edgardo E. Tulin called the assistance from Korea “life changing.”