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News / 12 November 2013

A little help for the victims in the Phillippines

The horrible disaster in the Philippines has shocked us deeply, and we would like to express our sympathy with all the people that have seen their lives ruined within the blink of an eye. We cannot begin to imagine what it must feel like to lose literally everything. Not only your house, belongings and means of living, but also loved ones, friends and family.  

 

Local communities

Chrissy Guerrero, executive director of the ‘NTFP-Exchange Programme’ (NTFP-EP), an NGO from the Philippines, gave us an update of the information she can get a hold on. Although the main office of the organisation is based in Quezon City on the Island of Luzon which did not suffer the consequences of the typhoon, the NTFP-EP works with many local communities in the affected area. What is happening to these people and what will NTFP-EP do?


State of calamity

“Right now we are trying to assess the situation, especially in the areas of the country where we are most active and where we have partners, like the Negros and Aklan areas. Both are under state of calamity, but don’t receive a lot of attention from the media because the death toll and damage in the Leyte area are just horrendous.”

 

These people need food
“Someone of our team will be going to Aklan this week to further assess the situation. Another member of our staff, who stranded in Aklan but is safe, has already informed us that in one municipality that we work in, Madalag, 3395 houses were affected with 2058 houses totally destroyed and 1047 partially damaged. We have no info yet on casualties, since communication lines are still down. But what is absolutely sure is that these people need food.”

Nutritious food packs

“One plan we have is to send ‘mingo’ to the evacuation centers there, to feed the young. Mingo is a very nutritious instant meal, made of Moringa (malunggay vegetable), rice and mongo (mung bean). It’s a most convenient food pack in an evacuation center, as it needs no cooking and can be prepared with water at room temperature. We’re trying to work out how to send these nutritious packs to affected families.”

 

Contribution

“Later this week we will have a better picture of what we can and will do in terms of relief. If anyone wants to contribute, we will be giving a bank account where kind donations will be accepted. Thanks again for your attention and support. We hope we can collaborate on rebuilding the Visaya-islands with these first initial steps.”

 

NTFP-EP website

 

 

 

Photo: The Vancouver Sun

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