Photo: Mrs. Ty in front of her newly built roof

It has been three months since Typhoon Ketsana hit Quang Nam province, but to Mrs. Ty, it feels like yesterday.  She still vividly remembers that day; her family had just finished breakfast when the strong winds approached and broke a sheet of her roofing. Immediately the whole family realized they had to leave. The couple tried to cover the area where they stored their rice before fleeing to a neighbour’s for shelter. Mrs. Ty was very emotional while recalling her child’s experience with the disaster, “he was so scared and cried as his grandfather carried him away.”

By noon that day, the rest of the roofing was completely gone, which she knew would happen, “the other houses have sturdy walls and a roof, mine does not. So, it was no surprise when my roof was the first to break,” she said.  Still, it was the first time in her life that she’s witnessed such devastation.  “My house was such a mess; it looked like a battle field”, Mrs. Ty said. More than 30 of her banana trees collapsed and her chickens died from the cold wind. Inside the roofless house, everything was wet and broken. They had to use plastic as makeshift bed sheets and temporary roofing.

The day after the storm, the couple began to clean up the mess, collect the old roof sheets and buy plastic sheets to cover their house. It has taken them awhile to recover as the temporary roofing they constructed was too frail to withstand the weather. “After the storm, whenever the wind came, the plastic sheets would tear little by little,” said Mrs. Ty.

A few weeks ago, the family was informed that they were selected to receive a new roof by Habitat Vietnam’s Ketsana Response Project. Once Mrs. Ty and her husband received the roofing materials, they immediately put up the roof, within a day. She said, overwhelmingly excited and happy, “in the summer, this new roof will cause the house to be cooler compared to the old metal roof we used. It’s also more weather resistant as it’s much thicker.”

In their three years of marriage, Mrs. Ty and Mr. Chanh have worked hard on their rice field, in addition to working for other farmers. However, Mr. Chanh has a disability in his right hand that prevents him from carrying heavy items and in recent years Mrs. Ty has spent more time taking care of their young child. “Our earnings are just enough for our daily needs; we have no savings. So when the storm struck, we could not afford to buy another roof. I’m so happy we’ve been given this roof,” said Mrs. Ty.  

Looking cheerful, Mrs. Ty is sure that their house will stay strong because as she said “we’ve got solid materials and Habitat has already approved the quality of our construction.”

Funding for the Typhoon Ketsana recovery project came from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and corporate partners: ExxonMobil Exploration and Production, Schneider Electric Vietnam and Holcim Vietnam.