Haiyan-devastated island celebrates 1st Harvest Feast
WHEN TYPHOON Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) barreled through the Visayas in November 2013, the small island of Kinatarcan, also known as Guintarcan, in northern Cebu was among the most devastated with more than 1,110 houses totally destroyed and 430 others damaged, which left about 1,900 families displaced. But help poured in from the provincial government, nongovernment organizations (NGO), and Catholic groups. Four years later, on Nov. 15 this year, residents, who were mainly reliant on fishing as livelihood, celebrated their first “Harvest Feast,” where there was an abundant display of fresh fruits and vegetables. Kinatarcan Barangay Chairman Rolando Villacarlos admitted that he had apprehensions in the beginning on the vegetable training program, considering the island’s poor and rocky soil. “Our soil is so poor, but the training bore fruit,” Mr. Villacarlos said in a statement released by the Cebu provincial government. Apart from farming, culinary and food processing techniques for cassava, a perennial woody shrub that is among the primary crops in the island, were also introduced. A rescue team, composed mainly of the youth, has also been formed through the Youth Adaptation on Climate Change program. Baltazar S. Tribunalo, Jr., head of the Cebu Provincial Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office, said the success story of Kinatarcan’s recovery is attributed to the cooperation among the islanders, the provincial and Sta. Fe local governments, and NGO partners Cordaid, Partners for Resilience, Caritas Singapore, and East-West Seed Co., Inc.