'HOME ALONG THE RILES' NO MORE
115 Poor Families in Amacalan to Own Houses

Gerona, Tarlac—The poor families living in shanties along the railroad
track of Sitio Luna in Barangay Amacalan will now have a reason to
dream of owning decent homes.

Thanks to the Gawad Kalinga Foundation, 115 families will benefit in
the proposed GK Village, where houses measuring 50 square meters each
will be constructed for them.

Inspired by the success of the GK project, Mayor Dennis Norman Tañedo
Go and the Sangguniang Bayan purchased a 4.7-hectare lot for
additional GK homes.

The mayor provided the money for the construction of the first GK
house while overseas donors have sent in funds for 20 houses.

He said he is supporting the project because "providing homes
translates into decent living."

He adds: "GK has this concept of Kapitbahayan where strong values
formation is translated into concrete guidelines for community living,
and this where values formation come in. Values are what we need
today."

Five months after the ground-breaking, 17 houses are nearing completion.

Ricky Cuenca, Philippine coordinator for the United States and Canada
chapters of the Couples for Christ (CFC), pledged to fund the cost of
more houses for the Village.

Other donors include: North CFC cluster head Philip Corpuz, local
caretaker and team leader Sesinando Ibañez, CFC provincial area
director Romualdo L. de Guzman, GK head Romulo D. Maglalang, Doy
Duran, Omar Cardinoza, Wilfredo Tolentino, Elia Tolentino, Malou
Guinto, Agnes Herrera, Rene Espino, Ramon Flores, Bot Bala and Bong
Vargas.

Governor Victor A. Yap, together with the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and
engineer Butch Ventura of the Provincial Planning and Development
Office (PPDO), will also provide assistance in the Gerona GK project.