5 months on: Forging partnerships, building communities together

By Cecil Laguardia, Communications Manager, Haiyan Response

Five months after Haiyan, said to be the world’s strongest typhoon, battered Visayas in the Philippines, communities are beginning to move back to normalcy. Despite the massive challenges, people-led progress in recovery is getting off to an impressive pace. With the communities’ active participation, World Vision has now reached 720,420 people in 518 villages from seven provinces severely-affected by Haiyan.

Haiyan Response Programmes Director Sean Ng commended the resilience of the Filipino people affected by Haiyan. “The people are leading their own recovery – our role at this point, is to catch-up with that and complement their efforts”, Ng says. 

A veteran of several disasters including several China floods and earthquakes, the Thailand floods and the Japan tsunami, he adds, “The upward trajectory of the people’s resourcefulness and initiative are a positive challenge for us international aid agencies. It is a model that many disaster-prone countries should follow.”

The women were the most participative in our activities and this is a positive thing because they are now familiar with safety practices for shelters especially in emergencies.

World Vision has focused its recovery work in two cities and six municipalities in Leyte province, two municipalities in Panay island composed of two provinces (Iloilo and Aklan) all of which targets 14,000 households through an integrated approach supporting needs in shelters, water/sanitation and hygiene (WASH), livelihoods and education. Support in community infrastructure is also being looked into and prioritized. 

Two-thousand households will be served in North Cebu primarily for shelter materials distribution as part of the last leg of implementation in the area. In Eastern Leyte, build-back-better workshops are rolling in communities and getting a good feedback, especially from women. 

Shelter manager Jerome Arana says, “The women were the most participative in our activities and this is a positive thing because they are now familiar with safety practices for shelters especially in emergencies." With 243,595 houses destroyed by Haiyan according to UN figures, this initiative is a very significant need.

Infrastructure manager Tom Matkovits is particularly upbeat about World Vision’s partnership with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). At least 50 carpenters from the communities will undergo practical exam, extensive workshop and practical assessment process that would later qualify them for a TESDA-certificate. This project will support the shelters program and at the same time enhance income-generation.

The skills-based training will benefit 750 individuals from livelihood creation in construction trades. In partnership with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Labor and Employment, World Vision will provide soft skill high impact livelihood training, such as beadwork, jewelry making, home cleaning products, which has the potential to provide immediate family income and job generation and requires small amounts of start-up capital.

Thousands were engaged in Cash For Work activities, where beneficiaries participate in two cycles of 10 days of work (at the minimum wage of 260 pesos per day) to clean up their communities through debris removal, drainage clearance, and other activities, focusing on key community infrastructure including hospitals, community centres, schools, and many others. 

This will not only promote cleaner, safer communities, but also provide households and communities with a cash injection to further stimulate economic recovery. The expanded cash-for-work projects, manned by over 40 locally-hired staff, aims to benefit targeted 5,000 beneficiaries in barangays in seven provinces within World Vision’s program locations.

Over a hundred community people in a village in Dagami, Leyte province joined a build-back-better workshop learning about safety in shelters and disaster preparedness.

“We are fortunate we have resources and very dedicated and compassionate response team.  With this at our disposal, I am convinced we will overcome any challenges and meet the recovery needs of Haiyan-affected communities," Response Director Andrew Rosauer says.

World Vision’s recovery phase, with the goal of strengthening the resilience of typhoon-affected communities and families including children, will focus on Shelters, Livelihoods, Disaster Risk Reduction, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene, Health and Nutrition and Education.