Yolanda Survivors Gain Carpentry Skills

The trainees. 

Five months after Yolanda hit the Visayas, several men previously unskilled in carpentry work can start to build their own homes.  Thirty-eight men whose houses in Tanauan, Leyte  were knocked down or swept away by  Super Typhoon Yolanda recently completed a 15-day intensive course on carpentry in a project of the Center for Community Transformation done in partnership with the Tanauan, Leyte municipal government and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

The training consisted of lectures and hands-on work.   For their practical work, the trainees repaired the student center, administration room, several classrooms and roofs at the Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU), the training venue. 

Aside from the practical learning, the men also received spiritual training. Each day was begun with group devotions and on Saturdays, community worship was held.  

Tanauan Mayor Pelagio Tecson said the trainees will be hired by the town to work on government buildings.  The town is one of areas hardest-hit by Yolanda. 

Pure joy shows on the faces of
Pelagio Tecson (above) who has
the same name as the Tanauan mayor
and Jovito Pardinas (below). 

Each trainee was given a cross cut saw, plumb bob,
pull push roll, claw hammer,  chisel, L-square,
gloves and hard hat. 

Photos: Michelle Taway

After Yolanda: Encouragement and Guidance from Tsunami-Related Booklet

A few days after the December 2004 tsunami that resulted in 38,900 deaths in Sri Lanka,  Ajith Fernando, national director of Sri Lanka Youth For Christ, wrote a booklet that encouraged individuals struggling because of the disaster and provided biblical guidelines for those helping survivors.  The booklet was later on revised by Mart de Haan of RBC Ministries, publisher of Our Daily Bread, in response to the challenges posed by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  

Here is a link to a PDF version of After the Hurricane: A Biblical Response to Calamity:  

http://web001.rbc.org/pdf/discovery-series/after-the-hurricane.pdf

May the Lord use it to bring timely encouragement, comfort, renewed joy, and guidance.