A Rescue House for Editor Katie & Her Grandparents

As I mentioned last December, our Editor Katie is in a difficult situation.

She lives with her grandparents (her grandmother has glaucoma), her sister (who is mentally handicapped), and several nephews.

Several years ago, when the grandparents' home was destroyed in a typhoon, a distant family member (who lives in Australia) gave them permission to live on an undeveloped lot which had been used as a dump. They cleaned up the trash and built a modest home.

Unfortunately, the relative is now building something new on her land, and their old home is about to be torn down.

She offered the family another undeveloped lot to live on, but said they needed to erect a home at their own expense.

Fortunately, you – the readers of TMP – came to the rescue by raising some funds to start work on a small home.

Now here is an update from Editor Katie…

Good day, everyone!

First of all, I would like to say 'thank you' to everyone who has shared their blessings and kindness to my family for the new home that we are building. 'Thank you' is not enough to express how grateful I am for your kindness.

From left to right: me, my nephew, my grandmother, my grandfather, and my little sister, in our old house.

The owner of the land wanted us to relocate to a different part of her land, so we started to clean the area, remove the garbage, and cut down some trees. Then she changed her mind again when she got an offer to sell that land.

What I did is that I went to our other neighbor, because they own some vacant land that is near to our current house, just across the street. I went to their house and begged if they could allow us to build a new house there. I was crying when I was talking to them.

Thank God they allowed us to build our new house on their land.

I did my best to spend all of your donations for the house wisely. Before I purchased the materials, I went to different hardware stores to check which had the lowest price, so that I could spend less and could buy more materials.

Here is the view from where the front door will be, showing the living area and two small bedrooms. (There is also a kitchen, which is where my grandparents will sleep.)

This will be the kitchen area. It does not have a roof yet. There will also be a bathroom here.

I paid for a carpenter and his helper. My grandfather and I also helped with the construction, so that we would not need to pay more people for work. But my grandfather has a heart condition, so he cannot do much work.

Here I am, moving dirt before the cement for the floor is done.

Here is the front of the house.

This is the side of the house.

At this point, the construction is stopped because we don't have any more budget for materials and labor. The owner of the land where our old house is really wants us to move. She is here in person now, with construction equipment. We just ask for a little time until we can finish our new home, so that we can transfer. I am really doing my best to take care of my 81-year-old grandmother, my grandfather, and my sister who has special needs. All I want is just to put them in the right place, in a safer place where we can live.

I admit it, our situation right now is very hard for me, but I can't stop and I can't surrender, because I am the only one whom they can depend on.

The photos show the new house that we are building, and that's where all of your donations have gone. We did not use any of the money for our other needs, such as food or electricity.

We still need to buy wood for the doors and windows, and also some cement. The kitchen area doesn't have a roof yet. Rain comes in because the house is not yet covered with marine plywood to keep water out. And I did not have the money yet to transfer electricity to the new house.

Although the new house still needs more work and materials, I am happy to see it standing, and every part of that house will always remind of the kindness of the TMP members. In behalf of my whole family, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much everyone.

May God Bless You All!