Super Typhoon Haiyan - Northern Cebu, Philippines (II)
the adventure
"We've got to quickly get organised and deploy!"
Following our rapid assessment mission on this island paradise, a multi-NGO partnership was quickly formed to configure a series of humanitarian assistance missions on Batanyan Island. The partnership comprised ACROSS, Life! Community Development (LCD), REACT Philippines and Agape Rural Program Philippines (ARP).
I was privileged to help plan the missions as well as lead one of them. Together with a large pool of local Filipino volunteers, my team and I conducted mobile medical and dental clinics in several of the hard-hit barangays (villages). In addition, we managed to secure funds to supply and distribute much-needed zinc sheets to selected families with damaged homes.
Besides the main Bantayan Island, we also ventured to serve on other smaller islands which had been neglected by the larger NGOs. We were not detered by the rough sea journeys. The gladness and happy smiles of the islanders on these smaller islands were reward enough!
We must have served a few thousand patients and countless families. The work days were long and the weather was blazing hot. And, of course, there were hiccups and many challenges to overcome. However, it was really gratifying to see everyone pull together and demonstrate a strong spirit of service. Some of the local volunteers had themselves been impacted by the typhoon, but they still showed up to serve others in need.
Overall, this was a very memorable and meaningful relief mission for all of us. We were just happy to have the opportunity to help meet the needs of those afflicted by the disaster.
