Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Anyone who meets Pham Thi Huong Giang, initiator and key operator of the "Nha Chong Lu" (FloodResistant Houses) – a social project which supports residents living in areasaffected by natural disasters, always wonders how this woman has so much energyto handle her heavy workload.

More widely known by hernickname, Jang Keu, the smiley 38-year-old is a jack of all trades – fromorganising several fundraising events for the project, to travelling thousandsof kilometres to flood-prone areas to meet needy people, from connecting andcollaborating with relevant partners, to supervising the project’s implementation.Alongside the Flood Resistant Houses project, Giang also heads her two ownbusinesses, which provide significant financial support for her charityproject.

Launched in November 2013,Flood Resistant Houses has helped residents build safe houses and earn aliving, thus relieving the impacts of natural disasters and climate change.

The factor that sets FloodResistant Houses apart from other charity and social projects is the directparticipation of needy people. They are the ones involved in every steps of theprocess, from planning, to contributing to costs, designing their future homes,and even building the houses themselves.

“Having experience fromworking on several NGO projects before, I understand deeply that it’s thebeneficiaries playing the key role in changing their own lives. That’s why,alongside providing assistance so needy people can build their own homes, FloodResistant Houses also inspires people to be motivated, helping boost theirconfidence and independence,” Giang said.

Therefore, any family thatagrees to join Flood Resistant Houses, will be asked to contribute 50 percentof the building cost, while the remainder will be donated by the project. Eachhouse costs between 50 and 80 million VND (2,200 to 3,500 USD).

“Each building project hasthe participation of the beneficiary, Flood Resistant Houses, localauthorities, and building material suppliers,” Giang said.

“To avoid problems, we donot give money directly to the households. Instead, we pay the suppliers andfor other expenditures,” the chief of the Flood Resistant Houses project said.

The design of these housesis another important factor.

To be able to withstandnatural disasters, mostly typhoons and flooding, these houses need to bespecially designed: on stilts and with a loft, or two-storey houses where theupper level can be used for storage during floods.

Additionally, based on thegeological conditions of every region, as well as the habits and livingconditions of each family, each house will be individually tailored.

“While houses for familiesthat raise goats should have staircases for the animals to reach upper levels,ones for households that raise cows should have a covered space,” Giangexplained about the different house designs.

So far, Flood Resistant Houses has presented eight designs, mostly created byarchitect Đinh Bá Vinh, another key operator of the project.

Because the recipients canjoin every step of the project, including the design stage, some houses havethe potential to stand out.

“The house can be brightblue with a yellow door. However, it doesn’t matter because that is theirhouse. They can do whatever they want to do. The project will ensure that thehouse is safe and stable,” Giang said.

The project was officiallylaunched after successfully completing five flood-resistant houses in Son Thinh commune, Huong Son district in Ha Tinh.

Since then, the project hasdone an amazing amount of work – more than 520 flood resistant houses werebuilt over the past four years, mostly in seriously flood-hit provinces ofQuang Ninh, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, and Quang Binh.  

As the project targets moreand more needy people, a fixed annual amount of 2 billion VND (87,000 USD) from thebusinesses, plus donations from generous people seems not enough. However,Giang is not alone on her journey. Understanding the meaning of the project,many famous Vietnamese painters have donated their artworks, which will beauctioned to raise further funds for the charity homes.

However, at the beginning,things were not so simple.

“At our first few fundraising events, when people didn’t yetknow about the project, my friends and I had to put up our personal propertiesto auction,” Giang said.

So far, the Flood ResistantHouses project has organised 10 fundraising events. At the most recent eventheld in Hanoi, the project raised more than 2.3 billion VND (103,000 USD), which,according to Giang, is enough to build 64 houses for victims of recenttyphoon Damrey, which hit south central provinces in October.

Next year, the project willcontinue to expand its assistance to families in Mekong Delta provinces.-VNA