Help Filipino Communities Prepare for Disaster

Thanks to your incredible support the Banaba Livelihood and Evacuation Centre has been full of the energy and laughter of young people over the last few months.

Our work in Banaba, just outside of Manila, is all undertaken in partnership with an amazing peoples’ organisation called Buklod Tao. It’s six hundred-plus members are all local residents who, in 1996, started to join forces to fight for a stronger community that could better resist the many disasters that strike every year.

One of the greatest things about Buklod Tao is that the group is multi-generational. The adults know that protecting their community is a long-term effort and that empowering young people is vital to their work.

So, Buklod Tao has a youth wing called Buklod Ng Kabataan (or BK for short), which means “The Youth Bonding Together”, that has been working with Buklod Tao since 2007. 

The community of Banaba knows that reducing the risk of disasters is closely linked to protecting the environment, and so a key part of BK’s mission has always been to protect mother earth.

Over the years your donations have helped support their work, which has included environmental advocacy and peer education projects. So, when Buklod Tao approached us late last year about engaging and empowering the next generation of future leaders we were keen to help.

So, over the last few months your generosity has helped BK to run regular Saturday activities for up to 65 young people aged 5-14. These activities have all been organised to educate the young people about the importance of protecting the environment and give them an appreciation for interacting with it. 

Examples have included the manufacture of organic compost, using this to create “urban container gardens” and simply enjoying nature through hikes and supervised tree climbing. Healthy food and snacks has also been provided to ensure that young people from lower income households haven’t gone home hungry.

The activities have been a great success and we ask some of the young people taking part to share their thoughts. John, pictured above in the yellow t-shirt had this to say:

“At BK we learn many things like gardening, recycling and how to make compost. We are always encouraged to wash our hands always, especially before meals. There is always food for breakfast and lunch. We are fetched and brought back home by the multicab of Buklod Tao, and we never go home without learning something”.

BK members are also encouraged to share what they’ve learned through performance and Loren, pictured immediately below, had this to say:

“I learned composting while with BK and I even receive additional food for my good health. We, as a group of BK also went to the office of the EcoWaste Coalition to sing and perform songs about Mother Nature. Thank you!”

We echo Loren’s thanks for empowering the next generation, and we hope you’ll keep supporting these efforts moving forward. We’ll keep you posted as our work in Banaba continues, and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I’d be delighted to hear from you as always.

Thanks to your amazing generosity the vulnerable Filipino community of Banaba has stood firm in the face of many potential disasters in 2019.

In our last project report we described how we were working to restore and refresh the fleet of eleven flood rescue boats we’ve provided since 2013. Since then we’ve supported the renovation of another six boats, bringing the total number of working boats to seventeen.

This restoration work has provided a great opportunity to take stock of impacts and between the seventeen boats over 5,400 families are now being protected. This is a truly incredible achievement and it’s only been possible because of the fantastic support of donors like you. Thank you so much.

With the fleet restoration complete we’ve now turned our attention back to further work on the Banaba Livelihood & Evacuation Centre.

Back in June your generosity enabled us to equip the Centre with cubicles to host evacuees during disasters. In March you also allowed us to provide a solar powered water purifier.

The water purifier uses harvested rainwater, and the work now ongoing will boost the supply to both the purifier and the rest of the building. A new water tower is being constructed next to the building. This tower will elevate two large 1,300 litre tanks and two smaller 200 litre tanks to the height of the building’s top storey. 

This will in turn allow the large tanks to gravity feed the Centre’s showers and toilets, while the two smaller tanks will boost the supply to the purifier.

The tanks will harvest rainwater from the building’s roof, and to ensure an uninterrupted flow the tower will also provide easier access to the roof to clean away fallen leaves and other debris.

This work will make Centre a better environment for evacuees, and the need for this was brought home again in early December when typhoon Kammuri (known locally as Tisoy) made landfall.

Tisoy brought winds approaching 100mph and Manila airport was shut down as a precaution as the typhoon rolled in. In the end Tisoy passed south of Manila but our amazing local partners Buklod Tao were well prepared just in case.

The boats described above are all crewed by local volunteers who stand ready to rescue their neighbours in times of crisis. However, they can only do this if they know their own families are safe. So, in advance of the typhoon making landfall Buklod Tao provided the crews with essential emergency supplies their families would need should the worst happen. The crews were then able to stand guard with confidence their loved ones would be safe.

None of this would be possible without your amazing support. So, once again, thank you for your incredible generosity during 2019 and we wish you a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year.

We’ll keep you posted as our work in Banaba continues, and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I’d be delighted to hear from you.