THE HELPING HANDS THAT LIFT AFTER A STORM
After Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines two years ago, many lasting efforts were initiated to help the most vulnerable segment of the population, the elderly
‘Iwas hopeless. My house and my coconut farms were all gone and I couldn’t think of what else to do,” says Alfredo Canaleja, 68. The farmer was one of millions of people affected by the wrath of Typhoon Haiyan, or Yolanda to the locals in the Philippines.
It’s been two years since the typhoon hit the central region of the island nation. The storm was so fierce that it caused at least 6,300 deaths and devastated not only coastal areas, as the strong winds also hit the mountainous area of West Leyte. Thousands of homes were destroyed.
Disaster may not discriminate against its casualties. But one group that are almost always the most vulnerable are the elderly. After Typhoon Haiyan hit, assistance arrived in the Philippines in the form of donations, food and shelter. HelpAge International and its national partner Coalition of Services of the Elderly (COSE) funded by the EU stepped in to ensure the elderly population was a key part of recovery efforts. Their main objective is to ensure that older people would have a regular income, shelter, health care and access to their rights and entitlements, through the provision of sustainable activities and programme.
In the midst of loss, Alfredo heard about the house building project. Seeing it as an opportunity, he joined the programme with no hesitation.
“I have some basic carpentry skills so I thought this could be something I could do,” he said. HelpAge and COSE trained and provided techniques to the volunteer carpenters on how to build strong houses that would endure disasters. The volunteers were also given carpentry toolboxes.
So far, Alfredo has built 11 houses for the homeless. In return, these carpenters also receive compensation for building the house, getting approximately 10,000 peso each. This amount of money is certainly enough to put him back on track again.
The house looks quite simple. It is made of thin plywood filled with concrete and covered with a tin roof. This simple structure is worth everything to those who were left homeless after the storm.
Maria Flor Teresa, one of the beneficiaries, said that she is so grateful for receiving the house as her life has not been easy, even before the typhoon hit.
“I was getting a tumour removed in Manila when Yolanda hit the area and when I came back everything was gone,” Maria Flor recalled the day when the typhoon hit her hometown.
The 62 year old lives on her own. Due to bad health, she can barely earn a living.
“Since I received a house, my life is much better now as at least I have somewhere to stay and I like how it’s painted,” she said with smile. “I can also set up a small grocery store here in the house.”
Apart from shelters, HelpAge-COSE also provides some activities that benefit many people in the long term.
“Each elderly person requires a different type of assistance. If we gave them all money, in the end it might amount to nothing,” said Aldrin Norio, the HelpAge-COSE team leader for the city of Ormoc. “So we came to the conclusion that if we introduced a communal garden instead, everyone could enjoy the benefit.”
Farming and gardening are common forms of livelihood in the area of West Leyte. In the communal garden, experts provide techniques to the elderly for reducing risk, getting better crops and have also introduced them to organic farming.
In the year after the typhoon, farmers jointly worked in the communal garden, planting various crops, from beans, eggplants and chillies to tomatoes. Other activities related to farming, like the reproducing of earthworms and the fermenting of organic fertiliser, also regularly takes place in the garden.
“This platform gives the community an additional income so that they can have a common purse to buy important things, or they could even apply these techniques to their own farms,” explained Norio.
“Each day, older people also take shifts to take care of the garden. At first, they weren’t sure whether these techniques would be effective, but after the first harvest, they were very happy.”
When asking these elderly people what they need the most, they tend to focus the most on health. Mobile health care has thus become another rehabilitation project initiated by HelpAge-COSE.
Germaine Argoncillo and Mide Arnoco are the volunteer nurses who work for a local hospital in Isabel, a small town in West Leyte which in some areas is not accessible by car. But with the programme, health checkups are delivered right at the doors of the elderly people.
“Transportation here is not very convenient. It’s normal to see five people commute on one bike,” said Mide. “That’s why there aren’t many people who go to the health centre in the city, especially older people.”
In a week, the two nurses have to visit nine villages in the city. The two nurses put knee and elbow guards on and sit on the back of a motorbike, going along bumpy roads. They carry medicine that fills up their backpacks. In each village there are some patients that need to be visited regularly.
Ninety-six-year-old Agripino Pales, a patient with albinism, says that before this programme was established, the only medical treatment he got was from the traditional healer who gave him herbal medicine. Confirming what the nurse had said, he admitted there are not many patients who visit the health centre due to transportation problems.
“They don’t want to spend money on health because that means spending money on transportation fare and medicine. Yet, since we’re here, we give them a health check-up and also medicine for free,” said the nurse.
So far, the timeline for most of the rehabilitation activities of HelpAge-COSE is about to come to an end, as is the case with those of other organisations. More or less, most people are back on track and some have been recuperating step by step.
Alfredo, one of beneficiaries from the shelter programme, admitted that he still has a lot of needs but he has been given a helping hand from many organisations.
“The help they have offered is already too much,” he said. “From now on, I should stand by myself, little by little and I’ll finally become more resilient.”
However, as the workers of HelpAge-COSE are about to be pulled out, these programmes will not continue unless the government chooses to carry them on. At present, hope is in the air, yet it’s unpredictable as national elections at every level are about to be held.
The help they have offered is already too much. I should stand by myself, little by little and I’ll finally become more resilient