SRT Report from the Philippines

The main Philippine island of Luzon was hit by three successive, devastating typhoons in the fall, releasing unprecedented amounts of rain. The combined effects of these
typhoons caused extensive flooding in the Metro Manila and coastal lowlands areas, as well as massive land slides in the mountainous interior, resulting in the displacement of approximately 8.5 million people and the destruction of thousands of homes. The death toll was approaching 1,000 and continuing to rise as a result of water borne diseases carried in the extensive flood waters, which are not expected to recede for several months in the Laguna de Bay area near Manila.

I was called as Team Leader in late October along with an international ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) to provide ongoing aid to the devastated areas. We were the fourth team deployed and operated in two phases; my wife Claire, also an SRT & a Rotarian, joined me for the second phase of our 3 week deployment. The previous SRTs had provided relief supplies mainly to the Manila area; as a result, we concentrated on the northern mountainous areas and the flood ravaged lowlands to the northwest. The mountains of Northern Luzon are strikingly beautiful, but the contrasting devastation and destruction by the enormous landslides was disturbing. The mountains are remote and rugged with roads (challenging at the best of times) badly damaged by the landslides. We nervously crossed many slides on roads that had just been reopened. Three weeks after the last typhoon, some mountain villages were still cut off and many more were just getting roads opened. Our ShelterBox tents and supplies were very gratefully received by people who were living in evacuation centres, makeshift shelters or sharing very cramped living quarters with friends and families. We provided tents for a group consisting of 13 families sharing one house.

The Rotarians of The Philippines were of great assistance to us. They provided transportation, lodging, food, logistical support and their intimate knowledge of the area. Many worked long, tireless hours along side us helping to distribute our aid. Their assistance was invaluable.

As ShelterBox Response Team Members, we often are the beneficiaries of both formal & informal heartfelt expressions of gratitude from the recipients of our aid. We are simply fortunate enough to be the ones distributing the tents and relief supplies; this enormous show of gratitude goes to all the many supporters of ShelterBox. I offer to all our supporters the following quotation from a letter addressed to our team from the Mayor of Rosales, a municipality where hundreds of homes were destroyed by flooding:

“The typhoon Pepeng(Parma)may have torn down and broke our dreams into pieces but our will to bounce back remains steadfast and firm. To be candid though, surviving the immediate aftermath of the onslaught is indescribably tough and oftentimes disheartening.Nevertheless along those periods, charitable people like you eased our sufferings and made us feel blessed amidst the chaos. Apparently there is more beyond the temporal relief you have extended us and that is your gesture of care and love for us. This has in wonderful ways rekindled our spirit to stand on our own and strive once again.”

This letter says it all. It is clearly what ShelterBox is all about and is intended for all our many, many supporters.

Ron Noseworthy
Rotarian & SRT Team Leader