Aid to the Philippines after Typhoon Yolanda

Typhoon Haima (locally named Lawin) made landfall in Peñablanca, Cagayan province, at 11 p.m. on 19 October as a Category 4 typhoon with sustained winds of 225 km/h and gusts of up to 315 km/h. After making landfall, it was quickly downgraded to a Category 3 typhoon, leaving extensive debris, damage to homes, buildings and farmland, flooding and landslides in its wake. Eight people were confirmed dead and 230 evacuation centers were operating the in affected area for nearly 150,000 displaced people.  

Typhoon Haima is the twelfth cyclone to affect the Philippines this year. It followed Typhoon Sarika, which struck central Luzon four days prior. There are approximately five million people residing in the 100 km radius of Typhoon Haima’s path. Of those, about 175,500 households are living below the poverty line.

In addition to regular activities IsraAID is currently responding to the needs of those in the affected area with distribution items and psychosocial support in the form of Psychological First Aid (PFA) as well as continuing to assess the situation on how to further help the most vulnerable.

This quarter IsraAID has been working on two ongoing development projects food security through agriculture and livelihoods and psychosocial support in the education system. As the regions continues to heal and build back better than it was before, IsraAID has been an integral part of the recovery process.

IsraAID has shifted its relief focus to new places of the Philippines and is committed to providing services to those in need following disasters such as Typhoon Lawin. 

In the first half of 2016 IsraAID continues to support the rehabilitation of Ormoc City, Leyte after Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). Activities continue to progress well, focusing on two programs:

1. Mental Health and Psychosocial Services
2. Food Security and Agriculture

Project DetailsMental Health and Psychosocial Services (MHPSS)

The MHPSS program aims to enhance the capacity of local education, health and social welfare workers by increasing their understanding of the impact of trauma. Using expressive art and basic psychosocial interventions, the Department of Education will mainstream this curriculum into the public school system.

The first half of the program focused on training professionals from the local education, health and social welfare officesand the second half of the program was directed towards teachers and guidance counselors. The direct beneficiaries of the trainings are the professionals and the indirect beneficiaries are their clients. The main achievements to date include 90 graduates of the family counseling training program, and a successful three month expressive arts psychosocial support pilot program operating in four public schools with over 200 participants. 

Third Stage expansion:

IsraAID Philippines' MHPSS third stage expansion program is being carried out in collaboration with Ormoc’s Department of Education, which began at the end of 2015. The third stage aims to integrate psychosocial activities into the education curriculum of public schools in Ormoc. It focuses on raising awareness about those experiencing trauma. The program provides MHPSS tools and services using expressive arts therapy, and the dynamics of the class as a group to teach normalization of stress reactions, resilience techniques, and self-care. The PSS activities are being integrated into the Values Education curriculum while all guidance counselors and Values Education teachers in the city went through PSS training given by IsraAID staff and core team facilitators. To date welfare professionals, in collaboration with school teachers who have been trained by an Israeli therapist, co-facilitated classes for students grades 5 – 10 in 100 selected public schools in Ormoc City. Heading into the 2016-2017 school year, the MHPSS expansion program is already being standardized across the Ormoc’s Department of Education public school system.

In the expansion plan for the second half of 2016 every class will participate in eight activities. Each activity starts with a warm – up exercises in order to increase participant’s enthusiasm, encourage them to participate and get them more comfortable and relaxed before the activity. Each activity ends with the opportunity for the students to share how they felt and what they learned.  IsraAID’s MHPSS staff with provide supervision and support for the professionals and educators implementing the activities.

Food Security and Agriculture

In November 2014, IsraAID Philippines launched The Food Security and Agricultural Livelihood Program for small-scale community farmers in the typhoon affected area of Ormoc. The program was developed in response to the massive loss of livelihoods, particularly for those relying on agriculture as their source of income. Offering support and capacity building for small-scale community farmers in the rural affected area of barangay Cabintan in Ormoc City, Leyte, including an introduction to modern technology through hands on training. Using practical tools and brainstorming innovative solutions affords the framers further growth in income generation and long term recovery. The program is carried out in collaboration with the Cabintan Farmers' Association (CALCOA) and different entities working in the area, including local government units, The Visayas State University, and Energy Development Corporation.

The program, based on a holistic approach, aims to enhance the farmers’ capacity from production to marketing, thus improving the economy of the farming community and creating significant agri-business opportunities for generations to come.

The main achievements since the beginning of 2016 have been life altering for the farmers and the community as a whole. Over 30 association farmers are receiving continuous hands on support and training in the field including: land preparation, crop planning, plant nursery, irrigation, plant protection, crop management, and post-harvest. We have also created a system where the farmers are keeping track of their harvest and income. IsraAID specialists are accompanying them through this process but the ultimate goal is for them to be able to take full responsibility of both these tasks by the end of the year. In collaboration with the farmers IsraAID has continued to create a structure of the profit distribution in an efficient way, so that part of the profit finances current expenses while the rest is saved for future needs. We have also helped a group of most knowledgeable farmers to attend an in depth 'accounting for non-accounts' training program which provides them with further expertise to keep track of their business.

As the success of this program continues to grow IsraAID intends to further develop its agricultural learning center inside the already existing production site. Already the Regional Vegetable Industry Value Chain Stakeholders Consultation Forum (RVIVCSCF) held a session for traders to observe the production site. Following feedback from the traders abouttheir requirements and market demands, connections were made between the CALCOA and the RVIVCSCF. The significance of this long-term bond will help to ensure increasing profitability for framers.

In order to ensure the sustainability of the program, IsraAID aims to offer prolonged training and supervision, for the farmers spanning three years, which will enable the CALCOA to move from traditional practices to modern agricultural practices.

We are at the most crucial stage of our program, as the farmers have only just begun to witness the advantages of the newly introduced practices. With continued support and oversight IsraAID will be able to complete the gradual process of knowledge transfer, community empowerment and long term development that will allow the community to invest in their future.