TWO years after super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) ravaged the Visayas region, many of the survivors are still picking up the pieces of their lives that were severely disrupted by one of the world’s strongest tropical cyclones.
But there are also a number of them that have recovered significantly through local and international aid.
With the continuous assistance from development agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) like the Philippine Business for
Social Progress (PBSP), other survivors even feel that their situation is now better than before.
Merle Tabornal and Gina Ciudad of Barangay Tubogan in Ajuy, Iloilo used to walk seven kilometers (equivalent to three barangays) just to receive free pre-natal care at the only barangay health station (BHS) in the municipality. A BHS was built in Tubogan in 2008 but only to be damaged by the typhoon five years after.
Months after the typhoon, their community of 739 rice and corn farmers continued to rely on the run-down BHS and struggled to make its operations normal despite the challenges.
Now, they are enjoying the benefits of improved healthcare services and a better health station, which has a new roof, newly-painted walls, a sturdier ceiling and a complete set of windows, gutters, and doors.
Through this project of Asalus Corp. and PBSP, barangay health workers were also trained on integrated management of childhood illness, which equipped them to better manage diagnosis and treatment of common illnesses of children. The community is now working together to upgrade their BHS into a birthing facility.
Panalaron Central Elementary School (PCES) was among the severely damaged schools in Tacloban City, Leyte when Yolanda hit the city on Nov. 8, 2013.
Most of its students lost their drive to attend classes because they did not have classrooms, facilities and even school supplies.
Their situation changed when Mondelez Philippines, together with PBSP, stepped in and chose PCES as its sixth adopted school under its Joy Schools program.
Mondelez Philippines improved the nutrition and academic performance of the students through the rehabilitation of 18 classrooms, playground and canteen, regular feeding sessions of 150 severely wasted students for one year, construction of library and reading corners, provision of school equipment such as overhead projectors, DVD players and speakers.
Patrocinia Oftana of Sitio Matab-ang in Madridejos, Cebu, used to spend at least P50 a day just for water supply.
She would pay a man to fetch her two 1.5 liters of water in the nearest dug well, which was three kilometers from her home. She used the water for bathing, washing clothes and dishes, and for gardening. For her family’s drinking water, she would pay the same man to purchase five gallons of water for their monthly consumption. Sometimes, she does not take a bath for days just to save water.
For years, this has been the situation of 6,000 families in 14 barangays on Bantayan Island, Cebu who relied on the 200 remote dug wells for their water usage.
When the typhoon hit the island and made distribution from deep wells even scarcer, they had to go back to the man-made dug wells despite threats of water-borne diseases.
Water system
But their plight improved when Mercury Drug Foundation, in partnership with PBSP, installed level two and three potable water systems to 772 households. The project provided materials and labor needed by the barangays to connect the Madridejos Community Waterworks System’s main lines to three interior and waterless barangays.
Oftana and several of her fellow residents can now access water anytime they want through their own faucets, and only pay a monthly
fee of P100 for 10 cubic meters of usage.
Farmer Romulo dela Peza has been depending on the coconut plantations in Barangay Inangatan, Leyte to support his family. But when the farm where he worked was destroyed by Yolanda, the now 66-year-old copra producer was left out of work and without a house.
It all seemed hopeless for dela Peza until Cargill Philippines and PBSP extended help to recover and rehabilitate the damaged coconut plantations.
Through intercropping, his participation in the Cash for Work program, and his work as the lead in the rehabilitation of the coconut plantation, dela Peza does not only have a new house, he is also now earning as much as P8,000 a month–so much more than the P1,000 that he got before the storm.
He is just among the 204 other household farmers who benefited from the coconut recovery and rehabilitation project.
Typhoon Yolanda affected 14 million people in the Visayas region. Of this, 5.9 million workers lost their jobs, resulting to an income loss of up to 70 percent in the affected communities.
PBSP raised an initial P18.3 million from its own network of corporations, individual sponsors and international funding groups for relief missions.
It distributed relief goods, hygiene kits, comfort bundles, kitchen utensils, and shelter repair materials to more than 20,000 households in 14 municipalities in Cebu, Samar and Leyte.
Project New Dawn
But the damages wrought by the typhoon continue to pose bigger challenges for the affected communities.
Hence, PBSP launched Project New Dawn (PND) in June 2014 to provide long-term rehabilitation interventions focused on health, education, environment and livelihood and enterprise development.
It raised P293 million from its member-companies, partners and donors for the implementation of many projects in the affected communities. Of this, P160 million had been spent for projects in the least assisted towns in Bantayan, Madridejos, Santa Fe, and Daanbantayan in Northern Cebu.
After several months, PND expanded its assistance to Iloilo, Samar, and Leyte.
Asalus Corp. rebuilt three rural health stations in Ajuy, loilo and Daanbantayan, Cebu.
PBSP had also built 31 disaster-resilient school buildings with help from the following donors: Ace Foundation International, Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp., Deloitte Philippines Outreach Inc., Epson Precision Philippines Inc., Insular Life Foundation, Intel Foundation, L’Oreal Philippines Inc., Telus International Philippines Inc. and Mondelez Philippines.
Mondelez Philippines, Fluor Daniel Inc.-Philippines and Lear Corp. also conducted supplemental feeding programs and provided uniforms and starter kits for teachers.
Donors from online platform Global Giving with member-company Parity Values Inc. helped plant 480,000 mangroves in 48 hectares in Northern Cebu.
This project aims to secure a brighter future for fishermen in the coming years.
The potable water system projects of Mercury Drug Corporation and Dow Chemical through United Way Worldwide helped bring safe drinking water directly to 1,582 households in 17 barangays.
With the International Rescue Committee and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, PBSP established sustainable ways of fishing in Panay and Iloilo by setting up 23 local fish-enhancing devices and installing 1,600 artificial reefs.
PBSP and Hapinoy’s Project Bagong Araw enabled 79 sari-sari store owners to receive capital loans, store makeovers and trainings on business skills.
While many have rebuilt their lives, PBSP recognized the urgent need to scale up its impact, especially in the least assisted communities.
The group plans to continue providing complementary interventions for recovery, rehabilitation, and resiliency in the towns of San Remegio and Medellin in northern Cebu in the next five years.