Food and Shelter for Philippine Typhoon Survivors

Asia America Initiative and our partner consortium of community based organizations and volunteers have surpassed our intial November 2013 goal of providing food and clean water to 5,000 families or 30,000 persons in the typhoon devasted areas of the central Philippines. We have now served 11,616 families or 58,310 persons, working into Christmas week. We thank Global Giving international donors for your kindness and life-saving generosity. We have used your funds with care and time effective missions. In this overwhelming environment of needs, we utilize our strength at AAI in acting as both service providers and as catalysts for extended teamwork.  The week before Christmas, the combined Asia America Initiative - One World Institute - IPI Foundation relief team based in Cebu and supported by Global Giving donors and corporate sponsors such as Eli Lilly, TomTom International, Dell and Gap conducted a life-saving relief mission to Leyte in communities near Tacloban. The devastation is beyond words. Malnutrition borders on starvation. Additional funds for food and water purification came from International Relief Teams in San Diego and medical supplies from Direct Relief of Santa Barbara, California and hygiene products from International Pharmaceutical Inc. of Cebu. Local people -- including many elderly men, women and children of all ages were elated --  but have no idea how they can survive in coming weeks.

During this same period, Asia America Initiative's tireless youth volunteers in Iloilo conducted training of two-dozen AAI Catalysts for Peace team leaders, including nurses and school teachers, to spread across across the Panay - Iloilo extended area where at least 500,000 people along the coast and on small islands urgently will need bi-weekly distributions of food and water until new crops can be grown and fising boats built. We provided training with life-vests to volunteers in order to survive choppy seas if any accidents occur. We are also distributing water filters and a new shipment of purification tablets that will purify more than one million gallons of muddy water.  In early January, we will be assisted by the Philippine Coast Guard to reach isolated islands with 50 to 100 families that are a one to two hour boat ride off the coast, with rough high waves slowing the time of travel.  

 Our target is self sufficiency for at least 10,000 families or 50,000 persons by April. We are providing hammers, nails and wood-working tools for survivors to rebuild their homes, fishing boats and their lives, as well as gardening tools and local seeds for nutritional sustenance.  As we enter 2014, we and the surivors of Typhoon Haiyan ask you to please not forget ourt efforts...  even a small monthly contribution of $10 or $20 will do wonders. Pictures represent many words, so we are sharing our experience with you to let you know the good you have done.  May God bless you all in the New Year.  

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Throughout the Christmas season, teams of youths and young professional volunteers organized by Asia America Initiative and funded by Global Giving donors continue to conduct food and water delivery missions to hard to reach mainland communities and islands in the Visayas region in the Philippines.  Local people live among the ruins of their demolished homes where the massive typhoon Haiyan unleashed Nature's fury on cities and small villages.  On December 15, 2013 an AAI feeding mission of 15 male and female volunteers, including school terchers, nuurses and college students traveled by small pump boats for two hours on choppy high seas to a community of 1,000 persons on Baliguian island.  

Adjacent to the city of Concepcion in typhoon's central path, the fishing community had lost all of its boats and the hard working people were unable to provide for their own livelihoods and nutritional needs, especially for  children and elderly family members.  The AAI team was the first private aid provider the islanders had seen in the one month since the storm had struck.  As one child asked. "Did Santa send you?  We cannot believe you are here."  AAI's plan is to immediately deliever food to save lives but the next stage is to help fisher folks rebuild their boats to rebuild their lives and feed themselves. Hundreds of public schools and medical clinics were also flattened.

For the AAI volunteers who mostly live in the capial city of Iloilo, the choppy seas and high waves  felt like a roller coaster.  They were wearing life vests, baseball caps and powder blue AAI t-shirts along with Santa Claus hats in the tropical heat.  Their rented boats were filled with rice, canned foods ands gerry cans filled with clean water to provide for more than 200 families or some 1,000 persons for one week.  Fruit trees and gardens were destroyed by the heavy wind and waves Funds from Global Giving donors are essential to cover the cost of locally purchased life saving foods. Many children, whose schools were destroyed, already showed signs of malnutrition.  Their smiles made the difficulties of the travel worth the effort for the AAI volunteers.  Thus far they have provided food and other humanitarian supplies to more than 30,000 persons who lost their homes in the storm.  

The urgent survival needs of countless communitiesin Visayas will persist well into 2014.  "We could not achieve our mission without the support of compassionate donors such as our friends at Global Giving,"  says AAI team leader Marlon Jinon.  "Even though we have never met in person, our international supporters are very much in our hearts."  

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