Churches support Philippines typhoon relief effort
-06/12/06
A range of church and development agencies, including the UK-based Christian Aid, are making emergency funds available to on-the-ground organisations dealing with the aftermath of last weekís typhoon in the Philippines.
Typhoon Durian claimed more than 500 lives and affected around a million others in the central Philippines region. Bicol, Marinduque and Mindoro are the worst-hit areas.
In Bicolís Albay province, it was the third disaster to hit this year and follows on from the eruption of the Mount Mayon volcano and the devastating typhoon Milenyo.
When the typhoon struck, an unprecedented 400mm of rain fell on Mount Mayon, causing the lava and rocks deposited on its slopes to surge down onto local villages in Albay province, burying peopleís homes, fields and animals. As many as 400 people were killed and hundreds are still missing.
“It was unexpected,” says Daphne Villanueva, Christian Aidís country representative in the Philippines. “The people of Albay province were not prepared because the typhoon was not expected to hit this region, then at the last minute it changed its course.”
She continued: “After Typhoon Milenyo, many communities were barely getting back on their feet. They had just started replanting their crops. Now this typhoon has wiped out all their sources of food. Thereís a risk that hunger and starvation will become a big problem.”
In Albay, as well as Marinduque and Oriental Mindoro, at least 76,000 peopleís homes have been destroyed and damage to livelihoods is running into several million pounds.
Despite communication and logistical difficulties caused by the typhoon, Christian Aid partners are mounting immediate relief efforts to respond to the needs of the worst affected communities.
Christian Aid has committed an initial £52,000 that is helping provide much-needed water and food for people who have lost their homes and crops. The agency is supported by a range of denominations and churches in Britain and Ireland, but works with people across boundaries of belief and identity.
In Albay province, the NGOs COPE and Coastal Core are setting up trauma counselling services for those who have lost family members, while in Marinduque and Mindoro, MACEC and MAHAL hope to provide 450 homeless families with shelter.
Non-government and relief organisations supported by the churches and others aim to help communities clean and restore their fields where possible and provide seeds and tools to replant crops.
A range of church and development agencies, including the UK-based Christian Aid, are making emergency funds available to on-the-ground organisations dealing with the aftermath of last week’s typhoon in the Philippines.
Typhoon Durian claimed more than 500 lives and affected around a million others in the central Philippines region. Bicol, Marinduque and Mindoro are the worst-hit areas.
In Bicol’s Albay province, it was the third disaster to hit this year and follows on from the eruption of the Mount Mayon volcano and the devastating typhoon Milenyo.
When the typhoon struck, an unprecedented 400mm of rain fell on Mount Mayon, causing the lava and rocks deposited on its slopes to surge down onto local villages in Albay province, burying people’s homes, fields and animals. As many as 400 people were killed and hundreds are still missing.
“It was unexpected,” says Daphne Villanueva, Christian Aid’s country representative in the Philippines. “The people of Albay province were not prepared because the typhoon was not expected to hit this region, then at the last minute it changed its course.”
She continued: “After Typhoon Milenyo, many communities were barely getting back on their feet. They had just started replanting their crops. Now this typhoon has wiped out all their sources of food. There’s a risk that hunger and starvation will become a big problem.”
In Albay, as well as Marinduque and Oriental Mindoro, at least 76,000 people’s homes have been destroyed and damage to livelihoods is running into several million pounds.
Despite communication and logistical difficulties caused by the typhoon, Christian Aid partners are mounting immediate relief efforts to respond to the needs of the worst affected communities.
Christian Aid has committed an initial £52,000 that is helping provide much-needed water and food for people who have lost their homes and crops. The agency is supported by a range of denominations and churches in Britain and Ireland, but works with people across boundaries of belief and identity.
In Albay province, the NGOs COPE and Coastal Core are setting up trauma counselling services for those who have lost family members, while in Marinduque and Mindoro, MACEC and MAHAL hope to provide 450 homeless families with shelter.
Non-government and relief organisations supported by the churches and others aim to help communities clean and restore their fields where possible and provide seeds and tools to replant crops.