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In the Philippines, the son of a Habitat homeowner turns to science to help his village
 Christian Jay Seso considers the Habitat community in which he lives to be blessed. Christian's family used to dwell in a slum in Mandaluyong, one of the component cities of the megalopolis of metro Manila.
When the 17-year-old visited his old home recently, where relatives now reside, he wondered how his family of five could have lived there. Toilets are communal, and water has to be collected from communal faucets. The kitchen is merely a shelf with a stove along the side of the house.
Today, the Sesos call Rotaryville home. The community has 190 houses adjacent to the sprawling metropolis of Manila, set on a hill along Laguna de Bay, the Philippines' largest freshwater lake. Christian was 7 years old when he moved to Rotaryville with his family.
The family's association with Habitat for Humanity Philippines began through the Christian Children's Fund. One of Christian's two older brothers, Jason, was supported by CCF sponsors, who donate a sum of money when the child they sponsor graduates or reaches a certain age. The parents of several CCF-sponsored children in Mandaluyong decided to use the donated money to buy a plot of land where they could build their own homes. They were helped in their relocation efforts by the Rotary Club of Mandaluyong and Habitat for Humanity Greater Metro Manila, one of the oldest Habitat affiliates in the Philippines.
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"It was clear that our lives had taken a turn for the better."
--Christian Seso |
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Life was not always easy when Christian's family first came to Rotaryville a decade ago. Since the community is located some distance away from metro Manila, many families struggled with high transportation costs. Electricity was not initially available; Christian and his brothers had to make full use of daylight hours to study and were often in bed by 7 p.m. Still, Christian remembers his first impressions of this new environment. "It was a marked change from the old neighborhood," he says. "Had we not moved, I would have been one of those kids in Mandaluyong who have sunk into lives of vice and petty crime."
Growing up in Rotaryville, Christian was able to cultivate his keen interest in science, especially chemistry. Last February, a group project that he led won second place in his university's chemistry fair and fifth place in a national science fair. This project was about harnessing biogas from water hyacinths, which thrive in the waters of Laguna de Bay. In fact, the group's invention is now being used within the barangay, or village, to produce cooking gas, which helps to bring down the residents' gas bills.
Christian also is looking into the use of chemical dispersants for cleaning oil slicks and studying if fish scales can be combined with other materials to help. Still, Christian says that, upon graduation, his ambition is to build multi-family dwellings for the poor. Ever ready to testify to the ways a Habitat home changed his family's life in the Philippines, he hopes to continue to witness to others about the positive effects of living in a safe and decent house, effects he recognized from the very first day. "It was clear that our lives had taken a turn for the better," he says. "And we didn't want to let this opportunity go to waste."
Additional reporting by Juan Edmund F. Martinez
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