Technical Professionals in Development Work by Faith Varona

The recognition of the need for technical professional assistance in development work, especially for housing and security of tenure, is fairly recent compared to the post-Martial Law decades devoted to social justice and equality by social development workers, civil society organizations, and community based organizations.

Community development work as a full-time career choice for technical professionals especially women is a rarity in the Philippines. It is not common to find architects, engineers, planners, and designers devoting their time assisting the poor and the marginalized on a wide array of social development issues.

This article recognizes with pride this new breed of women development workers who found purpose and fulfillment in working alongside people in the communities, creating opportunities for learning and venues to act together towards the common goal of sustainable human settlements development.

These are just 10 of the few who dared. There may be more out there working quietly and diligently with the poor. Hopefully, this new breed of development workers will increase in the years to come.

1. Maria Lourdes Domingo-Price, architect

May’s work with urban poor communities started while still a student of architecture at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. In 1986 she helped organize the socio-civic student organization UP Task Force Arki, which paved the way for more architecture students to get involved in a parish-based housing improvement projects for poor families in San Pablo Apostol Parish in Tondo, Manila. Challenged by how the practice of architecture could be more socially responsive, she continued her work after graduation in Tondo and in other poor communities. During this period she also became part of other similar socially oriented groups of architects like the Site and Shelter Team (now ALTERPLAN, Inc.) and Panirahanan, Inc. For brief periods, she tried conventional private as well as public practices (she worked for the government, under HUDCC).

Guided by the conviction that the poor are capable of finding and designing solutions to their own housing and community development problems, she spent her years working with people – learning, exploring and being continuously challenged by how housing, community design, and construction could be effective avenues for enabling and bringing poor people together to initiate change in their communities. In 1995, with support from the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) in Bangkok, May spent several years in Cambodia, working and planning with urban
poor communities on housing issues and linking with the university to encourage faculty, students, young architects, and planners to engage in the same. There she met and eventually married Jonathan Price, a British architect of Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO). Together with their two daughters, both continued to travel around Asia for VSO, the UN, and ACHR. In 2006, they briefly settled in Iloilo City when May worked full-time with the Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiatives, Inc. (PACSII) to support the housing initiatives of the Homeless People’s Federation, Inc. (HPFPI). Currently, May and her family are based in Syria but she is still active with ACHR and finds time to travel
around the Philippines and Asia assisting communitybased organizations as well as supporting networks of community technical professionals.

2. Sarah del Castillo-Redoblado, architect

Sarah attributes her involvement in student activism in college and her commitment to development work to the University of the Philippines. Over the years, she remained hooked in all sorts of development challenges that she never
thought the training in architecture would be responsive to, but somehow has been. Among her inspirations is German architect Albert Speer who believes in the process of deconstruction that she considers an essential analytical skill in development work. She is one of the founding members of the Sites and Shelter Team, a group of young architects who
assisted various urban poor communities organized by non-government organizations associated with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in Metro Manila. Decades of development work have enriched her experience in the provision of technical assistance to non-profit and participative development of housing and settlements, research, and organizing capability-building activities for government and NGOs that work on urban and local development planning.

Sarah is now the Executive Director of ALTERPLAN, Inc., an offshoot technical service NGO from the Sites and Shelter Team. The Quezon City based ALTERPLAN provides training and design workshops in community planning and cooperative housing, research, and event management of housing, urban development, and planning-related activities. Apart from this, she also serves as the Vice-President of the Board of Trustees of the Partnership of Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA), a national service network of social development NGOs based in major urban centers of
the country, and sits as a member-representative of the Professional Sector at the Quezon City Development Council.

3. Arlene Christy D. Lusterio, architect-environmental planner

Arlene was born to a simple family in Bacolod. Her mother was a teacher and her father a centrifuge operator in a sugar
mill. She is a product of living seven years in the suburbs, a year in the farm, and 33 years in the city. She missed kindergarten and was forgotten to be enrolled in Grade 1, but still made it to college at the University of the Philippines in Diliman. Her choice of an architecture degree was not at all noble. She was simply dissatisfied with the design of her parent’s house and did not trust anyone to make it better for her. Architecture brought her closer to the social realities of life either by mere coincidence or a divine plan. She joined the UP Task Force-Arki and became a permanent fixture in Tondo. The housing project of Samahan ng Angkop na Pabahay ng San Pablo Apostol (SAPSPA) in Barangay Magsaysay,
Tondo had been a haven for both technical and social learning. Her early training, fueled by the thirst for challenges and the search for relevance, sustained her work with the poor. Her work through TAO-Pilipinas continues to support the disadvantaged and bring about unconventional solutions to urban poor housing problems of poor Filipinos living in the hidden edges and under the shadows of the big city.

Arlene is currently the Executive Director and Program Director for Human Settlements and Environment of TAO-Pilipinas, Inc.

4. Mercelyn P. Galicia, DC, architect

“Every once in a while we are reminded to take a step back, look up and simply acknowledge the transforming Spirit that guides our life.”

For Sr. Lyn, joining the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul after earning her architecture degree and professional license not only fulfilled her aspiration to serve the Lord holistically but also gave a new meaning and dimension to her practice of architecture. She is helping in the formation of the sisters in her congregation and at the same time assisting in the construction projects of their various institutions. Her technical skill was especially challenged after typhoon
Reming devastated Bicol and she and her sisters were tasked to help rebuild houses for the victims. The enormity of the task was daunting but with courage and solidarity, they were able to push it through together with their partner community and supporters. The experience taught her and the sisters to be more human, in touch with reality, and accepting of their weaknesses. It warms Sr. Lyn’s heart to see her small construction team from Anislag relocation housing project grow from being mere helpers to skilled workers, thanks to the exposure and experience they got from the housing projects that the typhoon’s devastation instigated. Their initiatives with the community on post-disaster rehabilitation gave Sr. Lyn and her sisters more reasons to uphold their vows. With the completion and success of their Anislag housing project, DC is now eyeing another housing project in Zambales for the Aetas who were displaced by typhoon Ondoy.

5. Maria Veronica A. Hernando, interior designer

Even as an undergraduate interior design student at Assumption College in Makati, Enika already showed her affinity
to the poor and needy. Her undergraduate thesis on the interior renovation of a public hospital known for catering
to the very poor in Quezon City earned her a best thesis award, besting old favorites like 5-star hotels and fine dining restaurants. After college, she ventured into mainstream interior design work with two big firms for three years but left dissatisfied and restless, feeling she is needed somewhere else. While pursuing a master’s degree in Community Development at the University of the Philippines, she got the chance to participate in TAO-Pilipinas’ Young Professionals Orientation and Training Program on Social Housing. The experience strengthened her resolve to pursue development
work seeing the great need for professionals in the improvement of the poor’s living conditions. She finally decided to work with indigenous groups where she saw the harmony of the settlements and structures built by the people with the total environment.

For the past six years she worked with Ayta communities in Tarlac under the Holy Spirit Ayta Mission and her journey with the IPs will continue as she joins the Episcopal Commission for Indigenous Peoples (ECIP) starting July 2011 as part of a team that will document IP education systems all over the country. Enika dreams of the time when she will be able to once again apply her professional design skills to the conceptualization of a school building/school premises that will fit the needs of the IP schoolchildren. For Enika, there can only be one purpose for the practice of one’s profession: to
make human existence more meaningful and purposive for as many people as possible.
Read more »

in Asia working with poor communities by Maria Faith Varona

According to UN-Habitat estimates, nearly one billion people in developing countries’ urban areas live in slums. In the last decade, it has increased yearly by around 6 million and is expected to grow to nearly 500 million between now and 2020.

Asia hosts more than half of the world’s slum population at 581 million in 2005, 80% of whom are found in Eastern and Southern Asia.

The continued expansion of Asian cities have only made situations worse for the slum dwellers as basic services like housing, security of land tenure, clean water and sanitation lag behind. UN-Habitat reports have strongly urged Asian countries to include urban affairs in national development policies, along with the needs of all its citizens especially the poor, women, young, and elderly. The susceptibility of Asian countries to natural disasters adds another dimension to poverty and homelessness and the need for adaptation and mitigation (especially with the adverse effects of climate change) is needed for a better-balanced and sustainable development that would better enable vulnerable sectors to face these threats.

The magnitude and scale of the need to assist the vulnerable groups resulted to partnership among the public sector, civil society groups, business, and the community to improve the living conditions of the slum dwellers. The past decade has also shown the emergence of another type of community development workers in the professional non-profit technical service organizations that work alongside people’s organizations and NGOs towards sustainable community development. This type is comprised of architects, engineers, and planners doing participatory planning and design processes in communities. This article introduces 10 such groups in Asia and their unique approaches to community development work.

1. Alternative Planning Initiatives, Inc. (ALTERPLAN) – Philippines

ALTERPLAN is a non-stock non-profit technical service NGO incorporated in 1990 by a group of young architects and planners with the vision of a just and democratic Philippines and an environment that
is nurturing to its citizens. The group realized, after years of working with people’s organizations and NGOs in different regions in the country, that architects and planners were not just there to design and build structures but “to work towards conditions in the natural and built environment that are supportive of people’s aspirations.” It undertakes projects, programs, and research regarding space and the built environment as an integral component for community development. To implement its various programs and projects, it networks with experts and specialists in specific projects and areas of expertise like training, curriculum development, settlement design, cooperative development, community mobilization, financial planning, and management. All these are designed to respond to the capacities of its various partner organizations: community associations, cooperatives, NGOs, and local governments. Some of its projects include: Technical assistance in Local Government Barangay Level Monitoring System Development: Measuring Target 11 of the MGD; Proyekto ng ALMANOVA/CB para sa Alternatibong Pabahay (2007); SAFRAGEMC TA for Project Planning, Feasibility and Fund Sourcing (2004-05); Assessment Mission in Aceh Province, Indonesia (2005); Pre-Planning Activities for Parola Urban Poor Settlement Project (2001-02); Monitoring of Habitat for Humanity-Philippines MRH Project in Taguig (2002); Management of a Low-Cost Housing Development in QC for Sponsored Families of Children International (2003-06); workshops and seminars in Cooperative Housing Learning Series (2008); Building on OSY Training for Enhanced Job Security and Professionalization of the Construction Sector (2007-08); and research on Comparative Case Studies of Contracted and Financing Arrangements for Usufruct in Social Housing Implemented by LGUs in NCR (2008).

ALTERPLAN maintains a small core staff headed by the Executive Director, Arch. Sarah Del Castillo-Redoblado. It holds office at Bencom Building, 146 West Avenue, Quezon City, 1104, Philippines. http://www.alterplan.org.ph

2. Panirahanan, Inc. (PANI) – Philippines

A group of architects (some of whom were members of a socio-civic student organization Task Force Arki (TFA) based in the College of Architecture of the University of the Philippines in Diliman) founded the non-profit NGO in August 1992. PANI aims to provide technical assistance to communities and organizations engaged in shelter and settlements development issues and develop suitable and adaptable project studies in the communities together with its potential users. Its vision of “a society of self-reliant communities, an environment that builds people”
is translated in its priority program of promoting “architecture for the poor” through technical assistance
in community-based participatory spatial processes and popular modular training in urban poor communities.
Direct technical assistance projects are mostly in Metro Manila (Quezon City, Makati, Pasay, Pasay, Caloocan,
and Manila) and the nearby provinces of Rizal, Pampanga, Bulacan, Cavite, Cebu, and General Santos all in cooperation with NGOs like TRICOR (COPE-UPA-COM), DAMPA, FDA, and HPFPI-PACSII. Training workshops and study exchanges include slum upgrading and participatory community planning, social housing workshops, building technology and community mortgage program orientation, community enterprise training, solid waste management, housing rights and governance. To date, it has assisted 106 urban poor communities and four urban
poor federations in Metro Manila.

PANI has a lean program staff headed by its Executive Director Rolando D. Palacio. Its office is at 346 Mayon
Street, Barangay Lourdes, Quezon City, Philippines. PANI may be emailed at pani_346@yahoo.com.

3. Technical Assistance Organization, Inc. (TAO-Pilipinas) – Philippines

Conceived over coffee and doughnuts by four women architects in search of a venue for more socially responsive professional practice in August 2001, TAO-Pilipinas is the only women-led technical service NGO that works directly with urban poor communities in the Philippines. Its vision is geared towards the achievement of inclusive, people-centered and sustainable human settlements with equitable distribution of and access to resources through participatory planning, development, and management and the enhancement of technical knowledge and skills of housing stakeholders. This is translated in four main programs: Human Settlements and Environment (as the core program providing direct technical assistance to urban poor organizations and NGOs); Research and Publications (for research and documentation, resource center maintenance and magazine publication); Education and Training with the Young Professionals (as sub-program for capability-building workshops and trainings); and the Organization, Networking and Advocacy (for network and organizational development).

The projects, conducted mostly in coordination with partner organizations, include production of technical design drawings and drafting of conceptual development plans for on-site development of informal settlements affected by the rehabilitation or clearing of the water/railway easements and government road widening projects; capability-building on disaster risk management, solid waste management and production of micro-concrete roof tiles as alternative building material; conduct of Young Professionals Workshops as a venue for technical students and professionals to increase social awareness and responsibility; research collaborations on climate change adaptation; participatory GIS; and heritage conservation and bi-annual publication of TAO Shelter magazine.

TAO-Pilipinas maintains a core staff of 10 headed by Arch. Arlene Christy D. Lusterio, its Executive Director. Its office is located at 27-A Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. www.tao-pilipinas.org

4. Community Architects for Shelter and Environment (CASE) – Thailand

Architect Patama Roonrakwit and other Thai architects in Bangkok formed this group in 1997, under a common belief in the participatory design process that challenges the architect’s conventional role. CASE works with communities in informal settlements for the improvement of their living environment through a participatory approach. These include surveying, community mapping, group meetings, action planning and all stages of decision making. Their projects are mainly in Bangkok and nearby provinces ranging from community-driven upgrading and improvement in Kaoseng (2003) and Pattane (2005) pilot areas of the Baan Mankong program launched by the Thai government in 2003 to address the poor’s housing problems; housing design (Ten-a dialectic between communal and individual dwelling) (2006) and underbridge community design workshop and model house (1999); living market-living museum in Samchuk (2002); housing reconstruction in Santitham, Ayutthaya (1999); appropriate housing design at Klong San Sook (1998); community improvement in Bor-wa community and Pream Prachakorn canal (2000); and community action planning at Santitham community in Chiang Mai (1997).

CASE-Thailand is based in Bangkok with a six-person project team led by Arch. Patama Roonrakwit. Its office is at 121/1 Ramkamhang Rd. Minburi Bangkok 10510 Thailand. www.casestudio. info/2006/2about/index.html

Read more »

The Center for Disaster Preparedness develops a tool for children to participate in risk assessment and planning by Jesusa Grace J. Molina, CDP Center Coordinator

Children are among the most vulnerable groups in times of disaster. To promote children’s participation in disaster risk reduction, the Center for Disaster Preparedness (CDP) developed a toolkit called Child-Oriented Participatory Risk Assessment and Planning (COPRAP). The toolkit uses participatory and creative methods such as role playing, drawing, interactive discussion, and workshops to allow children to determine elements-at-risk; identify safe and unsafe locations; determine appropriate behaviors and responses before, during, and after a disaster; and identify other issues which threaten them. This toolkit was then tested on children aged 7-13 years old living in the flood prone area of Barangay Banaba, San Mateo, Rizal.

How it started

CDP advocates a child-oriented disaster risk reduction (DRR) approach. Through the ProVention Consortium Research Grants, CDP was able to do an action research project entitled Mobilization of Children and Youth to Offset Vulnerabilities for Empowerment or MOVE. This aimed to build the capacity of young individuals through raising awareness, enhancing skills, and encouraging values formation so that they become empowered actors in disaster risk reduction. This was carried out in a core group of children and youth between 9-17 years old who were living in a high risk flood zone in the community of Barangay Banaba, San Mateo, Rizal. This core group was then named Buklod ng Kabataan [BK] which means ”children bonded together.” They became one of the lead implementors of the research project activities. In the span of 14 months, the children and youth became attuned to vulnerability reduction and environmental protection concepts and were involved in risk reduction activities such as Participatory Risk Assessment, DRR Action Planning, and DRR Training and Advocacy.
Read more »