What Will I Do If I Win $100?

This is my official entry to blogging couple Levy (of Living Life to the Fullest) and Noel's (of Designer's Depot) Thanksgiving blog contest.

 

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I will use the $100 to help in the reconstruction
of our home here in Malabon City.

Although we consider ourselves lucky for not losing our home due to typhoon Ondoy that wrecked most parts of Metro Manila last year, we're still saddened by the fact that our home's ceiling and drainage system have to be reconstructed because of the effects of Ondoy and an incompetent carpenter.

I wish I had taken photos of our home, particularly the ceiling, before all these happened. I didn't expect anything like this to happen to our home. I know, some might think I'm being overly dramatic here over a ceiling, but we're not rich. Our family easily gets by with the money we get from my mother's job and from the business my partner Mai and I own and manage so, no, we're not poor. We still believe we're blessed. But, unplanned expenses like this reconstruction really affects our budget... big time.

When we bought our home in Malabon in 2005, we didn't have enough money for the completion of our home. We had to wait for over a year before we had our ceiling constructed and our house painted. We shelled out over PhP 70,000 for that. My mother and I had to come up with other ways to increase our savings for that construction. It was money earned through blood and sweat, I tell you.

So, just imagine how heavy-hearted we were (and still are) when this happened:

Here's a closer look:

This was the result of a termite infestation. What resulted to it? An incompetent carpenter who we trusted.

Before the first reconstruction of the ceiling, we were having problems with the rain overflowing from the rain gutter at the back of our house. We needed to have it fixed and also extend it across the side of our home. My Nanay was looking for someone to fix it for us, but we only had limited budget for it. Our house help suggested that we hire her husband to do the work. She was completely building him up, as expected, so my mother trusted them and hired her husband.

All they were supposed to fix was the rain gutter and it cost us about PhP 20,000. We thought all's well until the rainy season started last year, and then, came typhoon Ondoy.

We found out the hard way that they weren't able to properly fix the rain gutter. The problem worsened and it resulted to termites coming into our home. We were furious! The carpenter who did everything insisted that it wasn't his fault, of course, but, we knew it was because he's just a wannabe carpenter. If we only knew he wasn't that experienced, like how our house help described him, we would've hired someone else to do it. We were upset, but we couldn't do anything anymore.

The termites were vicious! They ate away all the wood where the plywood boards were nailed into, which resulted to the extreme damage I've shown in the photos above.

Here are more photos of the damage:

Our bathroom's ceiling had to be supported by bamboo poles.
Otherwise, the whole thing could've fallen on us months ago.

We also can't keep our bathroom clean because of all the dirt that fall from the ceiling. But, that's not the worse thing that we experienced. I even got hurt while bathing because one of the bamboo poles suddenly fell on me. Good thing only my brother and I experienced it.

We had to remove the lights at our kitchen and living room areas because one of them fell on my dad. He wasn't hurt badly, but it was still alarming.

Because we were worried that the ceiling will eventually fall on one of us, we decided to have the ceiling completely removed. We had this done this week and that alone cost us Php 12,000.

Here's how our home looks like now:

My Nanay also bought anti-termite chemicals to stop the infestation of our bedrooms' ceilings. We feel safer now. The reconstruction, though, will be put on hold 'til we've got enough money to fund it.

Mai and I are doing our best to help out with our expenses here at home. We pay for our electricity at our internet cafe and our home. We also pay for our DSL and phone line. We also help out with our meal expenses, of course.

Mai also tries her best to cook for all of us so that my Nanay won't have to tire herself doing it. My Nanay's too hardworking at home and at work so we always have to remind her to rest. We always tell her we're already grown-ups and we can do the dishes or the laundry ourselves. But, she insists on doing them saying that she's too bored so she'd rather do the chores. *LoL* We love her for that, but we make sure she doesn't overwork herself.

By the way, aside from our ceiling's reconstruction, we also need to have our front gate replaced. Our area here in Malabon was always flooded even on sunny days because we're close to fishing pens and Manila Bay. To show you how bad it was for us here, here's a video I took in 2007 while we were on our way home. This was a typical day during rainy season here in Malabon:

Please ignore the sound of my voice and laughter *LoL*

Because of the constant flooding in our area, this is how our gate looks like now:

Now that our roads were paved and we no longer experience flood like before, we need to have our gates replaced as soon as possible (mainly because of security issues). We're always having a hard time opening and closing it because of all the rust so we're hoping this could be done as soon as possible.

We're a bit tied up with our expenses at home and our internet cafe so everything's put on hold. My brother is also undergoing trainings for his profession (he's now a Registered Nurse and Midwife!) and so that's one of our priorities. Mai and I are hoping we can help out more financially (through our internet cafe and my online earnings) so the reconstruction can be started as soon as possible so that my Nanay would stop worrying. Right now, we're doing our best to keep her entertained in our own ways so she won't stress too much about the reconstruction.

I'll keep you posted on the reconstruction of our home. For now, wish me luck with the contest! It'll really help us start the reconstruction immediately.