“Red-Cross house” model helps disaster-affected locals repair dwelling
The Vietnam Red Cross Society (VNRC)’s “Red-Cross house” model has helped thousands of impoverished residents in disaster-affected localities build or repair their houses which were destroyed by floods and storms.
Storm resistant house build for an impoverished family in Phu Yen province (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Red Cross Society (VNRC)’s “Red-Crosshouse” model has helped thousands of impoverished residents indisaster-affected localities build or repair their houses which were destroyedby floods and storms.
The VNRC at all levels have built more than 24,000 houses for those who suffer heavyloss from natural disasters at the total cost of nearly 700 trillion VND (30.8billion USD), which was sponsored by international organisations. Over 2,000houses of which are disaster-resistant houses.
The houses have been built to suit the lifestyle of different ethnic groups andlocalities across the nation. For example: stilt houses are constructed forethnic people in the northern mountainous localities while bungalows arepopular among Kinh people or those in the south western region.
They have helped local residents stabilise their lives soon after thedisasters.
Safe houses to cope with natural calamities, built by the VNRC like theflood-resistant model in Phu Yen province, have shown efficiency when they areable to accommodate 100-400 people in case of floods and storms.
However, construction expert Vu Kien Trung noted that the “Red-Cross houses” areusually built on the sites where old houses stood, without considering the sites’vulnerability to natural calamities. He suggested devising plan to relocatedisaster-prone villages and residential areas to safer places.
“Building houses in an insecure area will not be a sustainable measure”, henoted.
Regarding financial resource for constructing the houses, Trung said that thelocal budget should contribute to the effort, noting that many poor householdsstruggle to repay the debt occurring from the house building. There should alsobe subsidies for building materials for the construction of “Red-Cross houses”,he added.
In the past years, besides the VNRC, the Vietnam Women’s Union, the VietnamFarmer’s Union and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union have worked tomobilise resources to build houses for people in disaster-affected areas aspart of the efforts to support them to have quick recovery from disasters andalleviate poverty.-VNA
Anyone who meets Pham Thi Huong Giang, initiator and key operator of the Flood Resistant Houses project, always wonders how this woman has so much energy to handle her heavy workload.
Anyone who meets Pham Thi Huong Giang, initiator and key operator of the "Nha Chong Lu" (Flood Resistant Houses) – a social project which supports residents living in areas affected by natural disasters, always wonders how this woman has so much energy to handle her heavy workload.
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Storm resistant house build for an impoverished family in Phu Yen province (Photo: VNA) 
