Staff Blog: The disaster was personal

By Eureka Fuentes, Health and Nutrition Specialist, World Vision Philippines

The TV blared. A storm was heading our way. It promised to be huge – a Category 4 Typhoon, with winds surpassing 200km per hour. I looked at screen again – the storm’s pathway was heading directly to my parents’ province.

As a nutritionist who has worked on countless Filipino natural disasters during the last 4 years, I knew I had to remain calm. My job needs me to be collected, to make decisions to support those most affected by disasters. 

This time though the disaster was personal. 

I dialed my parents. They are retired farmers living in the countryside in Aklan province. I warned them to be prepared. My mom promised she would pack her bags, reassured me that they had enough medicine and food to withstand the storm. 

I hung up worried. Not long after, the power was cut. Typhoon Haiyan ripped through the Philippines – the wind roared, debris flew outside our window, windows were forced open by the power of the storm. In our Cebu headquarters, they started a generator. The first TV images started to stream. The devastation was overwhelming. 

I clutched my cell phone, tried to call my parents again. No answer. I kept dialing. And each time the sound on the other end was the same – deafening silence. 

Soon, work decisions started to made. I would join the assessment team. A project I had dreamed of running – to provide women affected by the disaster a safe space to learn about health, child nutrition and breastfeeding – was being discussed. 

But my mind kept returning to my parents. I knew their health, knew they were alone. Each phone call went unanswered. I prayed endlessly with colleagues who were going through the same situation. 

Nearly 24 hours after the storm passed, I reached my cousin who lived near my parents. They were okay, he told me. Their house was damaged, but they were okay. I breathed a sigh of relief. 

Soon thereafter, I ventured to Northern Cebu as part of the first team to assess the damage. Trees were toppled, the roadways blocked by wreckage and houses crushed. The families I met were close to my heart. I related to their emotional battle in a new way. I cried several nights after returning from the scenes of devastation. I was exhausted both physically and mentally. 

Finally, after 48 hours, I got a hold of my parents. “We’re okay,” my mom said. The roof was damaged, but there was no flood. They worried about the others impacted. 

I wanted to visit them immediately. But I can only pray and do my best as I continued to join the team for the response.

As we met more and more families affected, we knew we had to create a place for mothers and young children. In the weeks that followed, my team set up spaces for women to learn and interact with one another. Together, the women learned how to maintain child nutrition in the wake of a disaster, how to take care of their children’s health and maintain their hygiene. We conducted rapid nutrition assessments on children who were six to five years old with local health workers. We provided mothers with breastfeeding kits, gave infant kits that include mitts and baby clothes. In these tents, we offered psychosocial support, talked about gender based violence, informed people how to prevent diseases such as diarrhea, measles, dengue. Finally, we addressed emergency health issues and referred people with symptoms to health care providers. 

It was very touched to see that even men attended some sessions and accompanied their children and wives. I am privileged again to meet the partners and know that when we work with them again things much easier. Despite our limited manpower, we reached more than 1,100 mothers in our first attempt to run the project in the Philippines. 

Nearly a month after the typhoon hit, I returned to my parents’ village. One of our target areas was near their home, and for 3 hours we laughed, talked about our experiences, about the difficulty of finding a carpenter to fix the roof. Before I left, I hugged them tight. I was so glad to see them, and even more committed to help other parents.