Recurrent typhoons and floods in the Philippines have caused many poor families living in Manila’s shanty housing to not only lose their homes, but also their livelihood. Instead of continuing to be jobless and homeless in the city, IFL Community Service and RTN Foundation, both local N.G.O.s in the Philippines, aim to help these people get out of poverty by resettling them in another place where they can live and work the land and grow their own sustainable food gardens.

Iloilo is a farming province with rich soils for agricultural purposes and its location outside of the typhoon belt makes it an ideal place to develop a resettlement and agricultural hub. RTN has purchased and donated 32 hectares of land in the municipality of Anilao, 1 hours’ drive away from the city proper, for this purpose.

The land surrounding this plot supports a mixed community of 15 tribal Aetas families and Filipinos. This village has minimal infrastructure with no electricity and piped water and the nearest public school is 12-15km away. Most of the community are hunter-gatherers with no stable food source and little education. Literacy rate for children is also low because the long walk to school means less time for chores and work and the mountain footpath becomes almost impossible to walk during the rainy seasons.