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- BEFORE: Jessie Casaljay, 24, and his wife Melody, 21, lived in this house in Galilee with their children, Mark Lester, 3, and Xian, 2 months.
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- AFTER: The Casaljay family now lives in a new blue home, thanks to a grant from The Grace Foundation in Destin.
A makeshift house built from bamboo, torn tarps and leaky roof made of rusty pieces of metal or thatch is the usual dwelling for most people in the Philippines. This type structure offers little more than shack.
Bugs, ants, mosquitoes, gnats and snakes occupy the residence with the family. Yes, snakes. It is not uncommon for a cobra to crawl into the little hut.
But thanks to The Grace Foundation of Destin and other supporters of Mission Love Seeds, all that is about to change.
Days are bad enough, but the nights are hell. The heat and mosquitoes, along with lying on the dirt floor, make sleep nearly impossible. Babies play and sit on the dirt floors with no clothing. As a result, worms and other parasites are common ailments in young children. No matter how hard a mother tries to keep the hut clean, eventually the children get sick. Rain, which is frequent and heavy, makes life nearly unbearable, but there are no options available in this village, until recently.
Destin-based Mission Love Seeds received a grant from The Grace Foundation of Destin to build two homes, and the houses are already built. Each house serves one family, an average of six family members, but in time will affect the lives of the whole village of Galilee and surrounding areas.
The houses will make living conditions more sanitary and much safer. Houses are built to withstand strong winds from typhoons and storms that blow through the village. Floors are concrete and the roof is made of steel trusses and metal. Each house has good, solid doors and windows. The block construction keeps out much of the heat, water, insects and pests.
Kitchens are built outside the house, yet attached, so families health will not be affected by the smoke and fumes from cooking on an open fire inside the home. Families can cook under the roof when it rains. The kitchen has vented concrete walls, steel trusses and a metal roof.
The homes are painted bright colors, which make a big difference in the landscape.
In addition to housing, Mission Love Seeds, through the generous support of The Grace Foundation, churches and other supporters, has built a church, school, outdoor cooking grills for community cooking facilities, and two water purification systems in the village of Galilee
Cost of each house is $3,500. Each family must build their own home with help from others in the village. Mission staff will assist and provide supervision and technical assistance in the building process. Once a house is built, that family in turn will help build the house of his neighbors.
What a change from living in a shack! These little houses seem like mansions to the people who live in them. It is hard for people in the United States to understand how these parents feel when they hear that someone they have never met is assisting them to build a new home. Plans are to construct 90 of these homes in the village of Galilee.
If you would like to donate to make a home possible for a family in the Philippines, please send your contribution to Mission Love Seeds, PO Box 1717 Destin, Fl 32540 or for more information, contact Mission Love Seeds at missionloveseeds@cox.net.
Barbi Carroll is co-founder and president of Mission Love Seeds.
This article first ran in The Destin Log.
