Philippine Youth March ‘n’ Build In Manila -- Annual Youth Blitz Build Focuses on Old Shipyard Area

April 12, 2005

On the march: youth volunteers leading the march from Manila Cathedral to the BASECO site

MANILA, 12th April 2005: A marching band livened the steps of the 100 youth volunteers who marched to the site of the annual HFH Philippines Youth Blitz Build earlier this month.

After the two-kilometer walk from Manila Cathedral to the build site, the former BASECO shipyard in the Tondo pier area, the young volunteers from nine organizations helped work on 30 houses.

BASECO-Bagong Buhay is HFH Philippines’ first Disaster Response project. The site is a shanty town that houses some 2,600 casual laborers and their families. It has suffered three major fires in recent years.

Since April 2004, HFH Philippines has been working closely with local and national government to build 1,000 new homes in the area; so far, they have completed 280 houses.

This year’s annual Philippine youth blitz build is themed “Today’s Builders, Tomorrow’s Leaders”.

Getting to grips with the task: Youth Blitz Build volunteers handling excavation work

The volunteers included students from the University of the Philippines, College of the Holy Spirit, Technological University of the Philippines, Brent International School and De La Salle University. There were also volunteers from SPI Technologies Inc. and CSPB Anizade, as well as youngsters from Habitat communities in Makaturing and BASECO.

Two Youth Build ambassadors were present, Kim Atienza, a former Manila city councilor, and local media personality Arnold Clavio,

The event was covered by local television station GMA 7.