AAA CEMEXME v 13 for press.pmd - Cemex Philippines

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18 CEMEX+ME 1st Half of 2004 /MANILA, PHILIPPINES MAN of It’s so easy to take the homes that we live in, or the buildings that we work in, for granted. Even in our industry, where we are surrounded by all the knowledge, skills, and expertise in building homes and large structures, it’s easy to get lost in all the jargon and forget that, more than machines, it’s human hands that work tirelessly to create our industrial masterpieces. CEMEX wanted to look beyond the hard, concrete structures that define our livelihood, and explore the people and processes that others often take for granted in construction. In this issue of CEMEX + ME, we share the spotlight with the good ol’ mason—the man whose hands shape our homes. the HOUSE Text by Niña Terol and Gay Domingo Photos by Alfred Mendoza and Henry Posadas Shot on location at Dreamland Heights San Pedro, Laguna, a Habitat for Humanity housing project
Out Out of of his his Habitat Habitat One look at Rogelio (Rolly) Boje tells you that this man has spent a lot of time under the sun. His skin is no longer bronze, but a deep chocolate brown, and his 43year-old face has been made to look more mature by the deep wrinkles that rest near his eyes and mouth. His lean frame looks like it has been hardened by heat and dust, but his eyes reveal a certain softness and wisdom. This native of General Santos (“Gen San”) City in South Cotabato, Mindanao got a lot of sun exposure as a “cowboy”—a helper in a construction site, and not a horseback rider who steers horses in a ranch. As he would later on discover, there was a rhythm to the industry and there would be weeks when projects were hard to come by. On these occasions, Mang Rolly would sell fish or balut, and his wife Vising would operate a small sarisari store near their home. April was usually the slowest month for construction in Gen San, he says, because the weather would simply be too hot for anyone to be outdoors for long periods of time. It wouldn’t be long before Mang Rolly got his big break. In 1989, he met a man named Bob Williams, who was an international partner of a non-profit organization called Habitat for Humanity (Habitat). As it turned out, Habitat was helping poor families get decent, affordable homes of their own, and Bob was in the Philippines to announce the opening of Habitat project sites in the country. When Mang Rolly met Bob, the latter invited him to be part of the Habitat community by being both a homepartner and construction worker there. It wasn’t easy getting a slot to be one of Habitat for Humanity’s beneficiary families, Mang Rolly shared with us. Because the organization’s mission was to provide decent housing for the “lowest 30 percent of society”, each applicant had to undergo stringent credit checks before finally being approved. “Bago ka maging miyembro, dadaan ka muna ng A break from the hot sun. Mang Rolly strikes a pose with his wife Vising, eldest son Rodel, and daughters Rovelyn and Rowena. katakut-takot na screening… Nung nakita nila na ako’y walang-wala talaga, nakita nila na qualified ako maging Habitat homepartner. (Before you become a member, you will have to go through a lot of screening… When they saw that I really had nothing, then they saw that I was qualified to be a Habitat homepartner.) Mang Rolly’s unit was completed in September of that same year, and he has since joined Habitat’s team of home builders. Master Master Mason Mason Masonry isn’t an easy field to practice, as we soon discovered, but it took Mang Rolly just a few months to “graduate” from being “cowboy” to mason to foreman—his current position in Habitat’s construction projects. “Mahirap maging isang mason,” he shares. “Lahat ng trabaho na makikita niyo dito sa isang bahay… `yung pag-asintado ng hollow blocks… plastering… concrete pouring… mason lahat ang gumagawa niyan (It’s hard to be a mason… All the work that goes into building a house… from filling hollow blocks… plastering… concrete pouring… it’s the mason who does all that).” Each house—particularly in Habitat project sites—Mang Rolly explains, requires four masons and one helper. Masons do everything from concrete pouring to plastering, and sometimes even carpentry and welding; while helpers assist in mixing cement, transporting supplies and construction materials, and performing other simple tasks. Everyone involved in Habitat projects, Mang Rolly says, should be a multi-tasker. “Walang pinipiling trabaho dito… all-around ang ginagawa namin dito sa Habitat (We do everything here… everyone works all-around here at Habitat),” he explains. So what exactly does it take to be a good mason? We expected a long answer that described all the skills and qualities that were required of masons, but Mang Rolly gave us a surprisingly simple answer: “Mabait… at saka mapagkakatiwalaan (Kind… and trustworthy).” According to him, it is relatively easy to train someone in masonry, as long as he is a team player and willing to learn. But he also has to be trustworthy because the foreman can’t always be around to supervise each mason’s work and to check how masons handle the materials that are being assigned to them. But, of course, there are skills that masons must learn in order to be good in their craft: filling (the process of layering hollow blocks to form a wall according to the dimensions specified in the floor plan), finishing (or plastering), and roping. The last one, Mang Rolly says, is not required of other masons in other construction sites, as it involves primarily carpentry and welding; but in Habitat, where anything goes, masons do roping as well. It takes roughly two months for a helper to be trained in masonry work, and Mang Rolly uses a hands-on approach in training his men. “Dumaan… ako diyan,” he recounts. “Mula sa (pagiging helper), na-train ako na maging isang mason… hanggang (naging) foreman na ngayon… Kung ano ‘yung nadaanan ko (bilang isang mason), ‘yon din ang tinuturo ko sa mga tao ngayon (I went through everything in masonry… From being a helper, I was trained to be a mason… and now I’m a foreman… So whatever I’ve gone through as a mason, I pass on to the people now.).” His current method is to assign each helper in the Habitat unit to one mason.
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AAA CEMEXME v 13 for press.pmd - Cemex Philippines

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