Weaving in response to Yolanda!

Bantayan, a small island belonging to the province of Cebu in the Philippines, was one of the areas most severely affected by the typhoon Yolanda in November 2013.

Local populations have suffered severe damage and were left in deplorable conditions!

The emergency for these communities was then to find a way to stimulate economic activity and find quickly a new source of revenues.

To help them, we got interested in an activity: weaving from pandan (local plant).

Several women of the island already had basic knowledge allowing them to make place-mats and matting pandan, but unfortunately did not have the financial means to develop this activity.

We then deployed the necessary resources to help them!

Key steps of the project

April 2014          At the beginning, we have grouped a dozen motivated women and have provided them with the required materials to manufacture of basic weaving products, to stimulate activity.

July 2014              After the reopening of the market and the prospects of development made more concrete, HOST organized a training for weaving bags.

Felipe, a specialist of weaving belonging to the Department of Industrial Affairs visited Bantayan to lead a 10-day training for the weavers. Women then acquired new weaving techniques and learned how to dye pandan leaves in order to make colorful bags and baskets.

August 2014             Once the activity of weaving bags settled, we approached two retailers based in Bacolod : the brands Kiculo and Vivo that committed to the project by making the bags available to the public.

October 2014          The "Bantayan totes" were presented to suppliers around the world during the "Manila Fame," one of the largest fairs in Southeast Asia during which the creations of local artisans are exposed to potential exporters.

November 2014       Second training with the aim of improving the quality and developing new weaving techniques to produce different kinds of bags.

Felipe, the trainer

Basis of the weaving

Dyeing of the pandan

Since the launching of the project, our volunteers regularly visit the island of Bantayan to follow closely the evolution of the work of weavers, and each time the surprise is huge ...

In just six months, women have gone from very basic weaving products to quality bags!

With the training of November, the weavers learned again new techniques of weaving and also techniques of sewing that allow them to make bags more and more sophisticated, and even in line with current trends!

During one of our last trips to Bantayan, we collected the poignant testimony of weavers, to better understand how the project has changed their lives. For many, the activity of weaving has increased their daily income by three, allowing them to send their children to school, or to get the electricity in their small habitats.

Thereafter, we hope to invite other women to join the project and help other families in Bantayan.

The "Bantayan totes" at Manila Fame

Reaction of the weavers discovering the photos of their products at Manila Fame

1 year already, Typhoon Yolanda victims still need us!

On November 8th, 2013, exactly 1 year ago, Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines. 
On the island of Bantayan, 95% of the infrastructure has been destroyed, leaving people in precarious living and unhealthy conditions. 
HOST-NGO set up then emergency measures to assist local communities,  in visiting a few days later the island on Bantayan to provide food, clean water, medicines, and other first aid kits. 

Since the tragedy, HOST-NGO has developed two projects to help local communities to rebuild sustainably: 
- Kubo Concept: Construction of houses built from local materials and constructed to be "typhoon proof". These green homes will help communities without roofs to be aware of organic agriculture and environment. 
- Weaving Project: Training of a group of women in Bantayan to weave bags from Pandan (local plant). These bags will be sold so that the economic development of the community will be boost. Host intends to implant fair and honesty trade. 

To continue to carry out these projects and support the development of the victims of Typhoon Yolanda, HOST-NGO needs you!

For the first anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda, Global Giving makes every means possible to make this day a real fundraising, so that all the efforts for the reconstruction and conversion of the affected areas can continue. 
A year after the disaster, damage are still real and efforts are to provide if we want to improve the situation of the Philippines. Yolanda post-reconstruction is not yet completed, many homes are still unhealthy and jobs not converted. 

To help us, Global Giving make this Saturday, November 8 a day of 100% Matching, and it should last for few days. It means, all the donations you will make to Global Giving for our cause we will be twice more important. 
For example, for a donation of $ 100, we will get 200$ (to a maximum of $ 500 per donation). 

This is an exceptional opportunity to get all mobilize to give a second breath for our action !

Make a donation now

A house is the only thing I need now !

KUBO concept is ready to be launched

4 months after the hit of Yolanda typhoon, our team which helps in Bantayan Island, has to sadly acknowledge the evidence of insufficient government’s support which is coming drop by drop to the victims. Right now, the survivors don’t have their house repaired or rebuild yet.

The area where we decided to rebuild the houses is inhabited by people surviving in a donated tent for the luckiest ones and the rest is protecting under a stretched tarpaulin roof…

We have conducted several community meetings with affected inhabitants and obviously the major problem remains the same. How to finance the construction of their home, while the economy is recovering very slowly and who will support the work and overseeing the development there?

Fortunately after some weeks of conceptualization our team responsible for the design of a typhoon resilient and affordable native house and has finally come up with a model that can meet the constraints and requirements of the project’s challenges. We call this concept KUBO whose particularity iscombining a house made of local and raw materials (bamboo, limestone, coconut lumbers, pandan, coconut rope … and an “Agri-tecture” garden to provide a source of incomes with vegetables for sale and for personal food at a hand distance.

A KUBO house unit might cost around PHP 50, 000 (USD1200) materials and handy labor works, given it would be cheaper if the purchaser aids to construct.

We do not encourage donation but micro -finance in order to reinvest the repayments to finance another KUBO house development and also to actively maintain the sense of ownership of the beneficiaries and have limitation of dependency.

Financial assistance to purchasers would be around PHP 20,000 (USD 460). The PHP 30,000 remaining will be collected within a biweekly repayments worth of PHP400 ... borrowing rate will be reduced to a minimum to cover essentially the costs of supervision, tools purchase and training.

Therefore the house will be fully paid in more or less 5 years.

As of now, we have also received donations to cover the exceptional recovery assistance of income-generating activities (pandan leaves weaving, gardening, breeding, canteens foods). Without the revival of economic activity among its families, return to "normal" life of the entire community is not possible. Today,emergency NGOs are no longer there so that is the real survival time which really begins now.

A group of 10 chosen women will now benefit from the pandan weaving re-launching program activities which are including financial assistance, training and marketing support from ANP organization. That would surely help them to become autonomous within a working year.

As a preliminary bill of materials details, our current donations received through the generous donors of Global Giving should enable it to finance as a beginning8 houses to be built in the affected areas... And a prototype house in order to validate the concept and overall costs estimation of the KUBO under construction process.

He have 3 identified areas as targeted areas, Purok Okoy and Pooc in Santa Fe municipality and one really remote in Mambacayao Diot Island from Bantayan municipality.

A big thank you to all the volunteers who has tirelessly been working to find a solution of innovative home and tailored to local and post- disaster contexts typhoon and for their commitment to help the victims to overcome the typhoon damages and economic poverty.



People still don't have a place to stay





Community meeting, feedbacks are welcome



Pandan weaving activity is back and will be nicer

Limestone bamboo coconut lumber... raw materials