A Home and a Future

"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters,” says Jeremiah to a people who were unsettled about their future.  (Jeremiah 29:5)
Although Jeremiah spoke to specific people at a specific time, we believe it represents the heart of God for the people of Davao City who have left their homes due to poverty with a hope that the city would provide a future for their children.  The sad reality is that very few are able to find a stable income and thus live in squalid, unsanitary and overly congested conditions. 
The shortage of affordable land and a fast-growing population thwart efforts by government and private-sector housing to tackle homelessness and poverty housing. In Manila alone, an estimated 3.4 million live in slums. About five million people are estimated to be in need of permanent housing. Numbers for Davao are unknown, but from our vantage point, hundred of thousands are in desperate need of housing only a few kilometers from our base of operations. 
Housing problems have far-reaching consequences. The high cost of housing leaves low-income families little money for other basic necessities like food, clothing or health care. Substandard housing can endanger the health and safety of its occupants, erode their hope and self-worth, and impair their children's ability to succeed in school.

^{In the sprawling squatter areas of Davao, this would be considered a nice  place. Some families (with 8 or more children) live in shacks the size of a small car, all made from scraps}

Because most of Agdao (community where Hope for the Nations Davao has its main base), are living in squatting situations (have found a place to erect makeshift houses made of scrap metal, wood and cardboard), their future is always at the whim of the landowner.  At any time, the landowner can win his legal case and demolish the existing housing and build his own structures which would be far outside the affordability of all urban poor residents.  Such is the case with nearly all the people that Hope for the Nations works with.  In fact, both our target communities are so vulnerable that they could have to pack up their wood and tin and find a new place to live at any time.  Often landowners will relocate the squatters on land far outside the city, where there are no jobs or education for their children.  

At this time, we are looking to network with other non-government organizations like Habitat for Humanity to help secure the future of the people we serve.  The next step would be to find a large parcel of land, near to the city where we can begin to develop low cost housing.  With Habitat for Humanity, the new house resident will need to pay only 1/3 of the price of house and lot, amortized over 10 years, making home owning a possibility. 

This will give urban poor families an opportunity to build houses and settle down.

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