Tag Archives: community managed disaster risk reduction

Heifer Philippines Continues Rehabilitation Efforts

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Rehabilitation work is underway in the Philippines to help Heifer International project participants begin the long recovery from Typhoon Bopha, which struck the southern island of Mindanao on December 4, 2012.

Philippines recovery.

Elmer Negros and his son, building a makeshift cabin in the place where their house used to stand. His wife watches while washing all the clothes that got soaked during the Typhoon Bopha. Their house was totally destroyed by the typhoon. Photo by Nacho Hernandez, courtesy of Heifer International.

Philippines country staff has asked Heifer International for $50,000 in immediate disaster rehabilitation funding to help provide short-term food relief and materials to repair homes and a feed mill, such as tin for the roofs and raw feed ingredients for surviving animals.

Philippines emergency aid.

At the headquarter of HEED, Heifer's local partner in Santa Josefa. Staff and volunteers preparing bags of rice for distribution to the families that have nothing to eat as a consequence of the Typhoon Bopha. Photo by Nacho Hernandez, courtesy of Heifer International.

On Saturday, representatives of the federation of self-help groups (SHGs), organized by Heifer Philippines country staff, met with HEED, the local partner, to discuss and schedule procuring and distributing supplies to help families who were affected. For Heifer, 366 families in two projects in Sta. Josefa, Agusan del Sur, were significantly affected, with homes damaged or destroyed. More than 250 pigs were lost, as well as 90 goats. Rice, corn and banana crops were significantly damaged.

A banana plantation, destroyed by Typhoon Bopha.

A banana plantation, destroyed by Typhoon Bopha. Photo by Nacho Hernandez, courtesy of Heifer International.

The groups also met with representatives of Save the Children and World Vision to help coordinate rehabilitation efforts and food supplies. Heifer regional staff plans to meet December 21 in Sta. Josefa, Agusan del Sur, with the SHGs and HEED to discuss longer term rehabilitation planning.

Florita M. San Miguel, a Heifer participant, with her pig and recently born piglets. They were born right after Typhoon Bopha hit Santa Josefa. Photo by Nacho Hernandez, courtesy of Heifer International.

Between today and December 23, Hercules Paradiang, Heifer Philippines country director, and his team, will work with the SHGs and HEED to secure, repack and distribute food and roofing materials for repairs. Then, between December 21 and 24, members with carpentry skills and others will be divided into groups to help repair and rebuild homes that were damaged, as well as distribute and help prepare food as needed.

Ariel Alcantara, a neighbour of Santa Josefa, in front of what remains of his house. It was almost destroyed by Typhoon Bopha. Photo by Nacho Hernandez, courtesy of Heifer International.

Between December 26-29, crews plan to reconstruct the feed mill warehouse, and then on December 30-January 2, 2013, to purchase raw materials to put the feed mill back in operation by January 2, 2013. Between January 8 and 10, 2013, Heifer Philippines staff, along with the self-help groups and local government units, will provide Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) workshops to five Heifer project communities.

The workshops, which help families prepare for and endure emergencies and disasters, had been planned for December 4-7, but was canceled because of Typhoon Bopha’s assault on the island.

Heifer International plans to send a World Ark writer and photographer to the Philippines in late January to visit the impacted area and report on the families, as well as ongoing CMDRR efforts across the country to better prepare families for disasters such as Bopha, lessons that can be shared with other Heifer International communities in high-risk areas around the world.

Heifer Philippines’ Staff OK, but Homes Damaged, Animals Lost in Typhoon

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Typhoon Bopha

Photo Credit NASA Goddard Photo and Video

Heifer International Philippines country staff are all reported to be okay after Typhoon Bopha, with top sustained winds of 130 miles per hour, slammed into the Southern Philippines early Tuesday, setting off landslides, uprooting trees and destroying fragile homes in its path.

Hercules Paradiang, Heifer Philippines country director, said that while staff are safe, with one staff member’s parents’ home under water, damage is being reported among project families, including loss of homes, livestock, animal pens and fodder. There is no word on injuries or conditions of families at this time due to limited communications and impassable roadways.

“We are very pleased to hear that Heifer staff members are safe,” said Steve Denne, Heifer’s chief operating officer. “We are working to learn more about the situation there and the impact upon Heifer project partner families, so that we may, as quickly as possible, support long-term agricultural recovery.”

According to Paradiang, a Farmer’s Field School for swine was destroyed in one project community, and 250 homes were damaged, with 75 of them destroyed in another project area, along with damage to animal pens and lost feed and fodder. There has been a definite impact on animals, but an assessment will be needed for a better understanding.

Immediate needs of those affected by the storm are being met in the short term by the government, which pre-positioned goods and services, and by immediate-response agencies suited for the kind of work needed in the aftermath of a storm such as this.

The United Nations also plans to begin an official damage assessment in the country Wednesday, and Heifer staff in Little Rock continues to reach out to colleagues in the Philippines for updates and information about project families and their possessions.

What is known, from news reports, short-wave broadcasts and other official sources is that the nearly 400-mile wide storm has killed a number of people (unconfirmed reports range from 43 to as high as 80), according to the Philippines News Agency, the country’s official news outlet.

The death toll is expected to rise once soldiers and police gain access to some far-flung villages isolated by floods, fallen trees and downed communications, but more than 57,000 people have been directly impacted as the storm demolished houses and stranded people in two Mindanao regions and parts of the Visaya islands.

A Philippines governor says at least 33 villagers and soldiers drowned when torrents of water from the powerful typhoon rushed down a mountain, engulfing the victims. Gov. Arturo Uy said the victims included villagers who had fled from their homes to a village hall, which was swamped by the flash flood. An army truck carrying soldiers and villagers also was washed away.

By mid-afternoon Tuesday (the Philippines is 14 hours ahead of Central Standard Time in the United States), a weaker Bopha headed for the Sulu Sea in the late afternoon, the Philippines weather service said.  But it continued to soak a wide area with heavy rain, raising the risk of mudslides and flash floods.

The storm, dubbed “Pablo” in the Philippines, had blown up into a super typhoon at one point Monday as it moved over the ocean, with sustained winds greater than 160 mph—the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean—but it weakened before making landfall over the city of Baganga.

Officials in the Philippines report that early warning of the storm allowed people to prepare. Tens of thousands of people sought safety in evacuation centers and government shelters.

Because so many Heifer International project communities are in areas sensitive to climatic events—hurricanes, fires, floods, mudslides, etc.—country programs develop Community-Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) plans to help prepare for and to mitigate events just such as this.

In the Philippines, identified as Heifer’s No. 1 country of concern for natural disasters due to typhoons and tropical storms, staff have instructed families how to prepare for events such as Typhoon Bopha, teaching them how to secure livestock and feed, to harvest ready crops for food for the family and to secure water and firewood. They’ve also been instructed to safeguard important papers, education material and cash and where to go for safety and shelter.

Heifer program officials plan to conduct an evaluation of the planning in the Philippines following Typhoon Bopha and to use the learnings to strengthen and improve the program so that all country offices and projects benefit from the disaster preparedness trainings.

Updates will continue to be provided as they become available.

 

Disaster Reduction and Gender in the Philippines

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Today is the United Nations International Day for Disaster Reduction. This year’s theme is Women and Girls – the [in]Visible Force of Resilience.

The rural poor suffer greatly from disasters of all kinds every year. It is because of their poverty and often precarious living conditions that they are particularly vulnerable. In many of Heifer International’s projects, we provide training and support in Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) Efforts.

Gender roles vary widely between cultures. Although women’s social, economic and cultural position in many societies makes them more vulnerable to natural hazards, they are important agents for change, development and advocacy. For more than four years, Heifer Philippines has worked hard to incorporate women in disaster reduction efforts.

Disaster Reduction: Disaster Drill at a school

Students perform a disaster drill as part of their Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction Plan. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Evelyn Martinez, 39, is a mother, wife, village leader, educator and ardent advocate of CMDRR in Lamba, a coastal village in Legazpi City, Albay. Lamba is a quaint village of 1,286 residents who have suffered countless typhoons, floods, landslides and the fury of the most active volcano in the country, Mayon Volcano. Mayon’s eruptions in December 2009 displaced 12,000 people, causing serious, longterm damage.

“We lacked knowledge and skills, we just left everything to fate, we were scared and helpless, we just looked at these hazards face on and admitted to ourselves that there was nothing we could do to help ourselves. Looking back, our community just realized that lack of knowledge is vulnerability, and vulnerability kills. When Heifer came to our community and extensively trained us on CMDRR, life was never again the same. We are no longer vulnerable, because we understand everything that needs to be done before, during and after hazard events.”

Evelyn became very active in all disaster reduction trainings. In fact, she was chosen to be the CMDRR committee chairwoman in their barangay (village).  She is one of the most knowledgeable resource speakers on disaster reduction in Lamba. She trains other project members, other communities, academics and anybody who wants to learn from Lamba’s disaster reduction experience.

Disaster Reduction Plan

Evelyn shares the risk and capacity map, indicating families living in high-risk areas and where families should go for safety during a disaster. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

Heifer Philippines’ view on gender roles in disaster reduction is elaborately explained in one of the United Nations documentation on Women and DRR, to wit:

Women and children are particularly affected by disasters, accounting for more than seventy five percent of displaced persons.  In addition to the general effects of natural disaster and lack of health care, women are vulnerable to reproductive and sexual health problems, and increased rates of sexual and domestic violence.  Moreover, gender roles dictate that women become the primary caretakers for those affected by disasters – including children, the injured and sick, and the elderly – substantially increasing their emotional and material work load.  Women’s vulnerability is further increased by the loss of men and/or livelihoods, especially when a male head of household has died and the women must provide for their families.  Post disaster stress symptoms are often but not universally reported more frequently by women than men.

With this reality, the Heifer project families of Lamba took specific gender roles in relation to disaster reduction to heart. Before and during typhoons, Evelyn and the women in the community:

  • Secure family assets, clothing and important documents
  • Prepare food, medicine and first aid kits
  • Prepare other members of the family, especially children, pregnant or nursing mothers, the disabled and the elderly, to evacuate if needed

Older children are tasked with assisting their mothers in food preparation, taking care of younger siblings, running needed errands ensuring their own safety.

These roles are clearly defined and well explained to all families. When facilitating trainings, Evelyn ensures nobody is left out. Everyone has a role to play and can contribute, no matter their conditions.

These roles were put to the test when a strong typhoon hit the community in 2010. Everyone remained safe.

In addition to specific disaster risk reduction trainings from Heifer, the overall improvements in families’ livelihoods has dramatically increased their resilience. Self-help groups form savings groups to ensure that no matter what happens, after each hazard event, the community can easily bounce back. They also plant climate-resistant crops such as sweet potatoes and other root crops to have a secure food supply. They have planted mangroves along coastal areas near their community, which act as windbreakers, protecting the village from destructive winds.

Disaster Reduction: planting mangroves in Lamba

Heifer project participants plant mangroves in Lamba as part of the community's Disaster Risk Reduction efforts. Photo courtesy of Heifer International.

“Preparedness is the key. We cannot be complacent. Hazards can come anytime.  We are prepared, and we know what to do”, Evelyn proudly shared.

“We used to lack knowledge and skills on how to deal with hazards and were always scared out of our wits whenever the typhoon season came, leaving our livelihoods and our very lives to fate. Damage from typhoons caused more hardships to our already poor community. Through the Heifer project, we learned a lot from the Cornerstones and through trainings such as CMDRR. We learned how to take care of our livelihoods and safeguard our lives against disasters and avoid suffering the indignity of just waiting for relief. We have become a disaster resilient community.”