Voice of Survivors: I was shivering and looking at flying roofs
by Lanie Carillo / Communications Specialist / World Vision Philippines
Four-year-old John is one of the children packed inside an emergency shelter in Cebu.
“We ran to grandma’s house,” John said. “But her place was also damaged. We ran to the village hall. There were many people there. I was shivering and merely looking outside. I saw trees falling and roofs flying. We waited inside until the storm calmed.”
“It was difficult,” John’s mother, Nancy, says. “Everything that we have, our house, our appliances were damaged in an instant.”
Nancy’s home, a 20-square metre house, was in total destroyed.
All their things, including clothes, a television, and wooden chairs are damaged. They were able to save a few things, a wooden bed and a cabinet.
“It is difficult to recover especially when you have no money and you’re hungry."
“We just finished paying the installment of our house that costs Php18,000 ($400) and our TV at Php6,000 ($133). I didn’t know that we would still end up with nothing. All those amount of money are now wasted,” she adds.
Nancy’s husband works in a nearby water refilling station, which is one of the most important businesses among the towns devastated by typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
“Drinking water is difficult,” Nancy shares. “You are lucky if you can pay Php25 (less than a dollar) for a 5 gallon of water. Most of the people here cannot buy it. So they just take water from the well, boil it and drink.” The well that Nancy refers to has been left unused for years since people in her village already have water pipes. But all the water pipes were also destroyed.
John came to his mother, drinking a cup of water from a mug that looks like a soccer ball. He smiled and ran again inside the house.
“It is difficult to recover especially when you have no money and you’re hungry,” Nancy says, her eyes pensive, as she looks to her neighbor, whose house was also damaged.
World Vision is responding to the most immediate needs of Typhoon Haiyan survivors and is planning to distribute water, food, blankets, sleeping mats and hygiene kits to those most affected.