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【Thailand-3】 In Hope of Flood-Resistant House
Support Flood Survivors in Thailand!
Ms. Buapan is one of the home partners Habitat Japan helps repair houses in Thailand. She lost her husband 20 years ago and is now living with her daughter, Wandee and 4 grandchildren.
She lives in a wood stilted house, and the Yom River, one of the largest in the country runs behind it. Every time the river overflowed, her house was always affected. In 2011, her house was flooded up to 4 meters high. She was barely able to move her valuables such as a motorcycle and furniture to the upland near her house before the flood water submerged the house above the floor level. Ms. Buapan said after the flood she and her family had to lay large boards to make shift floorboards for 5 months. (Photo Left: Her stilted house damaged by another flood in 2012)
Last year, another flood hit her house before she tried to recover from the previous damage. The floorboard got rotten and crumbled after longtime inundation. One of serious problems is that children may accidentally step on the broken board and fall into the water. Entrance steps are also damaged and unstable for anyone to use.
Wandee is the only wage-earner in her family. While she is out for farm work, Ms. Buapan takes care of her grandchildren. One of them, Maew has a cardiac disease and was hospitalized again and again at a major hospital far out of her village. Ms. Buapan herself also has to go to hospital every month because of high blood pressure. Most of Wandee's income, though it is extremely low, is spent for medical cost. Her family is facing financial hardship, so they had to give up repairing the house. (Photo Right: Ms. Buapan in an interview)
Ms. Buapan applied for the support from Habitat Japan in hope of 'decent place to live' with her family. She started working with Habitat to repair the house to protect her family from the frequent and unpredictable floods. She said, "I am looking forward to living with my family at a newly repaired house that is resistant to floods and where my family can live in peace."
◆Related Articles / Reports
2012.12.31 Selection of Home Partners Started
2012.11.01 New House Repair Project for the Flood Survivors
