Update from the Philippines: Today was a very challenging day emotionally. There are four of us based out of Roxas City at the moment and weve split into teams of two (each with a police escort). Im working with Steef and Nilo. Julie and Theo are working together with Edward. We begin our days as planned the night before when we come together to talk about the work that weve done for the day and where there is still need. Amongst this update we identify projects that we can and want to get involved with. As were focused on relief (food & water) and early recovery (rebuilding communities with schools or in helping recover their industry), these updates tend to be something like: weve met with x Barangay Captain and have seen the y Elementary School which needs a new roof and we met with z Captain who says they need 12 boats repaired after 45 were totally damaged. Where there is a need that is greater than our capabilities we do our best to alert an appropriate authority and put it on their radar. So today, Steef, Nilo and I decided to verify some information wed heard about an area, directly in the path of the eye of the storm, that was receiving no aid because the Barangay Captain there had voted against the current Mayor. First step then was to check in with the Canadian Army - no they hadnt been. Nilo checked with the local police; nope, no help had come. Then with any of the other agencies dropping food - theyd been once a week ago and werent planning to go back.. So we decided to load the truck up and take food to the area. On the way, I had a call from one of the other agencies; he said that if were going in that direction, hed heard of an island off the mainland whod had nothing at all. We verified this with a few more phone calls to the police in the area, the Barangay Captain on the mainland etc. Everything we heard was the same; people here have not been visited. No one knows how dire their situation is. So we then adjusted our plans a little and prioritized the island over the town . One of the first heartbreaking things was asking the town (what was left of it) to bring in two of their remaining fishing boats (when they had so few left), to take us and the food - that they themselves would so desperately like - to the island. The next hour we sat on the boat and dreaded what we might find. Fortunately, the islanders were all safe and no one had medical needs to attend to. Their gorgeous island home was utterly destroyed but their attitude was amazing; one of the men told me that they stayed inside the daycare centre for 24 hours waiting for the storm to pass and when they eventually came outside, they couldnt believe that theyd lost everything. They were in total shock.. but, he said, they thanked God they were still alive and began recovering themselves. The attitude from the locals that weve been meeting has been incredible! We went back to the mainland and tried to assess the needs of the town there. The damage is so extensive and so overwhelming that there is very little we can do. Instead well work with the WFP to get emergency food in and with some of the agencies working on shelter to help this town begin the long, long process of recovery. Theres so much more to report and yet Im sure youve had enough. Im also exhausted. Remember to check at projectpanay for more details about who Im with, what were doing and how you can support us.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 16:29:03 +0000
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