What am I doing here?

If, having seen the title of this post, you are hoping to read an existential theory about the meaning of life then I am sorry to have to disappoint you. If, however, you are interested in what I am doing with Medair in the Philippines then please read on.

On 8^th November 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, struck the Philippines causing widespread destruction. It is estimated that around 6000 people were killed, a million homes were damaged or destroyed and four million people were displaced.

Much of the initial relief effort focussed on Tacloban City, which was home to over 200,000 people and was virtually decimated by the high winds and the resulting storm surge (a wall of water with waves up to 25 feet in some places). There was widespread destruction across Leyte Island and Medair decided to work in Dulag Municipality, which is around 30 kms south of Tacloban.

The path of Typhoon Yolanda, tracking east to west.
The first place where it struck landfall is pretty much where I am right now.

After an initial programme, which built 600 houses for the most vulnerable in the community, we are now in the second phase which has four main objectives: 

1. To build a further 1080 houses for others whose homes were completely destroyed
2. To provide building materials and training to another 1200 households whose homes were severely damaged and who do not otherwise have the means to repair them
3. To return to the 600 houses built in the initial phase and provide assistance, where necessary, to improve them
4. To give all these households training and equipment to help them protect their homes in any future typhoon

Here are some pictures to show what the houses look like in the various stages of construction.

Laying the foundations

The house starts to take shape

Almost finished. Here the owner is cementing the area in front of their new home

A mother and child - happy to show off their new home

None of this can be done without money, staff and materials and that is where I come in. My responsibilities are to oversee the Finance, HR and Logistics activities of the programme. These are often the ‘hidden’ elements of any programme, but are essential to its smooth running.

• Every penny (or in this case peso) spent has to be accounted for
• We are currently employing 166 local people, half of them carpenters who are building the houses
• Sourcing, storing and transporting all the materials required to build or repair nearly 3000 homes is a significant undertaking

As the programme is scheduled to be finished by September this year a lot of progress has already been made and I am following on with the work done by others before me. It’s challenging, busy and diverse work, which I’ll blog about in more detail another time. 

Maybe one day I’ll also write about the meaning of life – but I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for that post…!

10 random things...

…I’ve learnt about life in The Philippines since arriving here just over two weeks ago.

1. Karaoke is VERY popular.
 
2. You do not put toilet paper down the toilet – you dispose of it in the bin provided.
 
3. Clothes are dried by hanging them outside your house on hangars. I’m so used to seeing second-hand clothes for sale on the streets in East Africa that it took me a few days to realise these clothes were not for sale…
 
4. A favourite dish is lechon. This is a young pig (about six months old) that is cooked whole on a spit.
 
5. The most common form of public transport is the pedicab. This is a bicycle with a side-car and a typical journey will cost 5 pesos (about £0.07p or $0.11)

 
6. There are a lot of dogs. Most of these are strays although some do seem to belong to people. They all wander the streets during the day and night, fighting and barking.
 
7. Food can often be an unusual mix of sweet and savoury. Bread is usually sweet and finding cheese in a fruit salad was an ‘interesting’ taste sensation!
 
8. Cock fighting is a popular sport, drawing large crowds to purpose-built auditorium.
 
9. Each town or city is divided into smaller districts, known as Barangay. Each Barangay has its own council along with a ‘Multi-Purpose Hall’, which is the equivalent of a community centre or village hall. The Barangay we live in is just one street but there is still a sign that welcomes you at one end and says ‘Thank you for visiting’ at the other end.
 
10. February is meant to be the start of the dry season but it is still raining a lot. Nearly every day there are heavy downpours accompanied by strong winds, which blow the rain at all angles. Some days these showers last for just a few minutes but on other days, like today, it seems to rain virtually all the time.

Welcome to The Philippines

Ten days ago arrived in The Philippines. I will be working with Medair for much of this year as they continue to respond to the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. I will blog more about the project at another time but for now here are some of my first impressions of this country.

It is beautiful. I flew from Manila to Tacloban on an early morning flight and the sun was rising as we came in to land. The ocean, the forests and the mountains in the distance were bathed in the glorious early morning light.

It is scarred. From the moment of leaving the airport and all along the 45 minute drive to Dulag, where the Medair project is based, you can see the impact of the typhoon. There are huge numbers of buildings either partially or totally destroyed. You can see the power of the typhoon in the twisted and crumpled metalwork and collapsed walls of structures that were once functioning as factories, offices, schools and homes. You can see the impact on individuals in the broken down houses, many covered in tarpaulins as their only defense against the elements now.

It is recovering. Amidst the destruction there are newly rebuilt or repaired buildings, standing as a beacon of hope for what is possible.

It is Roman Catholic. A few weeks ago the Pope visited Tacloban and the banners to welcome him are still hanging in the streets. Many of the buildings that have been rebuilt are churches. Our rented office and one of our warehouses both have shelves containing icons and statues of the Virgin Mary.

It is tropical. Although this is now meant to be the dry season it still seems to rain every day in short bursts of heavy rain. In between the rain showers the sun shines and the temperature and humidity levels rise to the point where a fan is an essential piece of equipment in order to keep cool.

It is friendly. People seem very open and always pleased to see you. The adults will say 'Good Morning / Afternoon / Evening' as you pass them in the street and the children will put up their hands for a high five and ask 'What is your name?'

It is noisy. I think we are living on the corner of a particularly noisy street but there is rarely a moment (except maybe in the middle of the night) when you could say it was truly quiet. The roar of motorbike engines, the barking of the multitude of stray dogs that roam the streets, the (mostly) tuneless karaoke singing, the banging and hammering of construction and the chattering and shouting of the neighbours all contribute to a constant cacophony of sound. I am getting used to sleeping with ear plugs!

Over the next few months I am sure I will learn a lot more about the culture and the people of this country that is all a new experience for me.