Signal 2

Manilla is on alert again. Signal #2 (click on the link for details of what this means) has been declared for the city as Typhoon Santi heads for Luzon. All prep schools close automatically when Signal 2 is announced. Colleges and Universities wait for Signal 3.

This is, as always a forecast. The last Typhoon, Ramil, did a U turn just before making landfall in the North. Whilst it is obviously prudent to make preparations, this is not a severe warning. IF Typhoon Santi makes landfall the winds will be strong, but it was not the winds of Ondoy that caused the problems, but rather the rain that came with it. It is the rain that we do not want. Some Metro Manila communities, still under water, are anticipating that they Will be under water for another 2-3 months - unless there is a major rain dump in the meantime!

Let's HOPE that Santi passes without too much damage, and with little rain.

(Manila is around about the left most red dot on this track projection image.)

Bulacan: The first 1,020

The small convoy of two trucks and two passenger vehicles wound its way north of Manila this morning on the road to Bulacan. Loaded with the first delivery of over 1,000 relief packages the trucks proclaimed clearly that they carried Relief Goods in partnership with The Salvation Army – Philippine Territory and the Hong Kong Government (SAR) and the People of China.

We arrived at SM Malls car park in Bulacan where the staff had erected a number of marquis and crowd control measures, to find over 300 people representing their families waiting and cheering as we drove through the park to the distribution site.

Thanks to the Hong Kong Government we are now able to provide a month’s supply of rice, protein and oil as well as some basic medicines, toiletries and bedding to every person in the family. The problem was that the people were not used to getting so much and had not come prepared to carry away over 50kg of rice plus the other things. However, I didn’t hear anyone complain about the problem they faced – instead we witnessed a steady convoy of tricycles loaded to the hilt as hundreds of red shield sacks began winding down the busy roads.

One young woman, concerned about missing out, neglected to mention that she was due to deliver her baby – today. And wouldn’t you know, just as she handed over her ticket to redeem the relief goods, she doubled over in pain as the contractions hit. Thanks to the staff at SM Mall we just happened to have a wheelchair on hand and the lady was rushed up to a waiting tricycle that whisked her off to the hospital.

Over the next month we will repeat this process in 20 different villages throughout the area affected by Typhoon Ondoy until we have supplied 28,000 people with enough rice and goods to assist them over the next month.

As I watched the procession of Salvo Red Shields disappear down the road I heard the news that the next typhoon is due to make landfall tomorrow morning – and once again I am reminded that this relief project is far from over.

Barangay in the Shadows

We wound our way through a maze of unbelievable tight walkways, in a hidden world of shadows beneath the bridges and roads of metro Manila. This is a world that most 'respectable' people would like to pretend didn't exist and certainly not a world that they would visit.

Here in the slums, the shanty towns of the 'informal' residents of Manila live millions of people. The aroma of frying food and fruit stalls mix with the smells of rotting garbage and non-existent sanitation systems. Little children play with mangy little mutts amongst putrid, stagnant water. A young woman washes clothes in a tub of water alongside a stream that seems to slither around rocks and garbage rather than flow. An older man fishes bits of plastic out of the garbage washed down from the outside world - plastic that he may be able to sell for food. Men and women sleep on raised wooden platforms in the shadows of the bridge, whilst over their heads hang all their worldly wears, buffeted in the vehicle wash caused by the unrelenting traffic on the road above.

It seems inconceivable that this world still exists here - a month ago, almost to the day, this flood water canal was about 15 feet under water. If you had been able to walk on the bridge, about 12 feet above our heads, you would have been waist deep in water. And yet a month later, the people are back, the huts reconstructed, the platforms they call home rebuilt and their lives reestablished in the only place they have ever been able to call home.

Their landscape has changed though, now they have the added blessing of the garbage and mud washed down from the homes of those that can afford to wash and clean. But despite the aesthetics and aromas of this barangay of despair, the children laugh and play, glad to see us and waiting for their turn to have a picture taken.

As we leave that place, looking for the bottle of hand sanitiser, we wonder how we can make any lasting difference in the lives of the 'informals'. It may seem such an insignificant thing - but for a few minutes this afternoon a team of respectable, privileged white guys acknowledged that these forgotten people exist. We brought little with us into their world - but what we left (we trust) was that intangible but powerful commodity - HOPE.

Images Worth a Thousand Words

It has been great to have Jerome Green and Ben Knop here from Salvo Studios (Melbourne). They have spent the last few days documenting some of the devastation caused by the typhoons here in Manila. Check out some of the photos taken by Ben (click here):

So far we have visited Santa Cruz and Angono and the video below (click on the image) shows some scenes from these communities and the media boys in action. This video is intended to be more about the boys than the Salvos work - it's a teaser! Watch out for the finished products that will eventually be available. If you want to know when and how they are available contact Salvo Studios.

No Water?

You would think that after all the rain and water that has flowed through the Northern Luzon region that we would not be having to consider issues of water. But, despite the obvious, there is no water for drinking and cooking! It's all very well giving people rice, but if they have no water to cook it in and no means of cooking what are they supposed to do with it?

In the barangays of Karamutan and Lipay (in the municipality of Villasis) the people are surrounded by water. They have at least four new lakes and one former dry river that is now flowing again. The lakes have become a favourite playground of the kids and despite the dangers of stagnant, polluted water parents are having trouble keeping them out.

The villages have a number of deep bore wells that are still suitable for drinking, but no pump heads to deliver the water. On Monday this will change, thanks to a donation from the Rotary Club of Mont Albert/Surrey Hills in Melbourne, Australia, the three new sub-divided villages (divisions caused by the collapse of the dyke) will have one clean, safe water source each. No longer will they have to rely on deliveries of bottled water from agencies that are already moving on to 'worse' affected people - they won't have to rely on others for this most basic of all human rights - water.

Almost There

In case you haven't heard, I'm in the process of identifying 28,000 victims of typhoon Ondoy who need assistance with food and some other items, such as bedding, toiletries and medicine. Sounds like it should be easy when you consider that the typhoon affected over 4 million people in the region of metro Manila.

So today we headed out again, this time to the City of Angono in the Municipality of Rizal. This city is also situated close to the Laguna de Bay that I spoke of yesterday. But here 56 people died in the flooding, 1 more has died as a result of disease because of the polluted water, which is still waist deep in the community, and over 300 are still recorded as missing.

Hundreds of houses remain under water and, like most other lagoon communities, it is anticipated that the water will not recede completely until the end of December, and that is only if the four typhoons forecast to hit the island of Luzon do not dump too much rain in the area.

Following discussions with the local government officials we have agreed that we should be able to meet the emergency needs of approximately 7,000 of the residents of these communities. So now I am almost up to 26,000 people identified.

Hopefully, as we speak, goods are being sorted and packed and on Tuesday the first (for this particular project) will begin to be distributed.

Santa Cruz, Laguna

With Salvo Studios' Jerome Green and Ben Knop, I headed back down to the southern end of Laguna de Bay to meet with the governments Social Welfare officials and conduct a needs assessment. I had been informed that there were villages in this region that 4 weeks after the rains of Ondoy were still chest high in water and without significant relief goods or support.

On arrival in Santa Cruz, the provincial capital, we discovered that the reality was worse than we had heard. Built on the banks of the lagoon, Santa Cruz public market, though still alive with business, was accessed only by a hastily erected wooden walkway that allowed access over the increasingly polluted water to the crowded and busy market stalls. Walking through the aisles of freshly caught fish, newly slaughtered meat and dwindling fresh vegetables we were led to the newly created boat port - where two outrigger canoes awaited our patronage.

The water at the market, located about 1.5km from the 'normal' lakes edge, was waist deep and beginning to take on the appearance and aroma of some exotic soup. We set off on a tour of the CBD and dicsovered many shops and banks, now accessed only by boat, still open and touting for business. From the CBD we headed down the main street toward the 'lake shore', in amongst the houses half submerged with people just hanging around on their roofs. Many of the people in this community stayed, preferring to live on the roof or in many cases the second floor - than go to crowded and distant evacuation centres.

As we floated past the original evacuation centre that itself is now chest high in water, children called out to us and a mum with a toddler floated past in a large plastic tub supported by a rubber ring and dogs and cats, perched on shelves above the water looked at us as if we were the ones out of place.

Some statistics for the region:

• 814,396 people have been affected by the floods
• 26 have died, 20 injured and 4 are still missing
• 89,159 of these people are still living in 239 evacuation centres
• 3,150 homes have been completely destroyed
• 3,918 homes have been partially destroyed

Leaving the flooded area behind we headed out to the local high school sports complex that has become home for 171 families, (855 people including 246 primary school aged children and 1 ten day old baby boy, Leo, born in the corner of one of the classrooms). The familes are separated between ten rooms, about 25m2, and ten 6 person tents - in some cases up to 70 people sleep/live in each room. As Jerome and Ben played with the children (they said they were doing their media job) the adults watched and smiled - loving the fact that the kids were running and laughing.

Despite the tragedy and the uncertainty the people in Santa Cruz welcome us generously - whether it was onto their roof to have a chat, or into their houses to show us the water lapping at the ceilings, or into their space, and onto their mat - people wanted to share their story and thank us for spending some time with them and for bringing hope. Sometimes this intangible hope means more, and is more needed, than a bag of rice!

Reflection on a Crisis

My visit to the north reinforced in my mind that we are dealing with three categories of destruction caused by the typhoons (and that doesn't count Ramil which is forecast to make landfall tomorrow afternoon).

1. National Capital Region, Metropolitan Manila (Typhoon Ondoy) – damage is caused by severe flooding. Most properties are still intact, although damage is still to be assessed in many areas. Flooding has destroyed belongings but the level of property destruction is minimal for those that owned land and houses. For the squatter communities, however it is a different story. They have lost everything and have claim to nothing.
2. Pangasinan Region (Typhoon Pepeng) – damage was caused by intense rains and resultant floods, but added to this is severe damage, (reminiscent of the 2004 tsunami scenes) caused by the 5m high wave that rushed down the river and flood ways in the region. Many flood dykes were unable to stand the pressure and imploded: solid, concrete/brick houses along the spillway have been completely destroyed, or the ground so eroded that they will be condemned.
3. Benguet Region (Typhoon Pepeng) – The areas around Baguio and La Trinidad suffered major landslides that have wiped out, and isolated entire mountain villages. Whilst the cities themselves largely escaped damage, there are numerous villages around the city that are suffering as a result of fatalities, complete destruction and now lack of water, food and issues of sanitation.

We have been able to source good funding for food parcels for Metro Manila, (all we have to do is purchase supplies, sort and deliver them). Now the efforts will turn to identifying the best response and funding to assist the North.

In these regions people are in need of kitchen utensils, water and blankets. (Obviously there are many other needs, but these are the immediate.) So the efforts continue in food, (rice, sardines, noodles, oil, some basic medications and toiletries) but we begin to work on proposals for the next phase now.

Arjay’s Story

On the morning of Friday, 9th of October Arjay Anno’s life changed forever.

With his family, (Mum, Dad and two younger brothers) Arjay lived in the village of Little Kibungin on the outskirts of La Trinidad; 5,000’ above sea level in the mountains of Northern Luzon.

About 20 years ago these mountains were dense with pine trees, today they are as equally dense with the concrete, wood and tin structures that are home to over 300,000 people in a region designed for 30,000. Little Kibungin, a village of 100 families, like most of the villages in these mountain cities is built into and on the slopes of the mountains: the houses of all shapes, sizes and compositions hang precariously to the steep inclines.

Over 60% of the vegetables required for the nation’s appetite are produced in this region and Arjay’s family, like many that live in the city, are farmers. Arjay’s folks had done well and their success had earned them a two story, solid concrete structure at the foot of the mountain and the opportunity to send Arjay to school in Manila.

On the Wednesday, when typhoon Pepeng made landfall and began to wreak havoc on Northern Luzon, Arjay decided to go home to be with his folks. Typhoons had not caused major damage in their part of the world before – but he felt he needed to be home.

When he arrived early on Thursday morning he was met with an unbelievable sight. The mountain above his family home was torn in two, and half the mountain had collapsed, on top of Little Kibungin. There was a scar 1km long and 500m wide, from the top of the mountain to the valley below and anything that had been in the way was gone. The mountain road was inaccessible, the electrical poles had been torn out of the ground and thrown away like toothpicks – and the houses, all the houses, were gone. Amongst the rich fertile soil of the mountain were splinters of concrete slabs, walls, furniture and bodies.

84 of 100 families, (263 individuals) disappeared in this landslide, the worst in the region. Arjay climbed up through the dirt and rubble, pushing aside police and emergency services in a desperate effort to reach the place where he knew his house stood, only to discover the unbelievable - it wasn’t were it should be. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ8wDugtFi8)

Looking around in disbelief, he noticed the remains of a building further down the valley and recognised it as his home. The solid concrete, two story house with its deep foundations had been literally torn out of the ground and dumped some 300m further down the valley. Arriving at the ruins he tore at a door still intact and pushing it aside he found his dad, and his mum.

Arjay looked at me with dead, deep, unseeing eyes as he described to me the horrific scene of mutilation that confronted him, a scene that no person, let alone a 17 year old son should ever have to witness.

When I was introduced to Arjay on Monday (19th) he told me that every morning for the last 11 days he has returned from the evacuation centre where he stays, to the road above his parents place. When I met him, as he did every day, he sat with his back to the place where the mountain dumped his house; he sits facing the bulldozers, police and workmen who are still looking for the last two unaccounted for bodies – his little brothers.

Pastors Sunday

It's Pastors Sunday in the Philippines. Every Salvation Army Corps (Church), and they tell me every church, celebrates this day once a year. The basic premise is that a church celebrates and thanks their Pastors.

So, most churches, including The Salvation Army - Santa Barbara where I worshipped this morning, will have their lay leadership taking responsibility for the worship, and preaching. Then at an appropriate time the Pastors (Officers) are invited to sit in front of the church while the leaders of the ministry sections speak words of thanks and encouragement and the members of the church line up to bring gifts of appreciation to the Pastors.

I like it! (Preston Corps, look for it on the calendar for 2010.)

I have often felt that we leave saying thanks to people to the last moment - like in a farewell, or sometimes until they can't hear you anyway - like a funeral. Imagine what a difference it could make if people felt appreciated more often.

Jose: One of The Real Hero

It had been pouring non-stop for about 36 hours when, at 11pm on Thursday (8 October), Jose Garcia and his family heard a strange noise on the other side of the flood water dyke. Together with some of the other men he decided to brave the rain to see what was going on. But already it was too late; water was pouring over the top of the dyke, "within two minutes" says Jose, "we were up to our waists in muddy water. The houses that had been on the top of the dyke were gone, and we couldn't see the people."

He worked quickly to evacuate his family to the roof and to salvage as much food and belongings as they could, but as they reached the roof a "huge explosion" filled the dark, stormy night. Jose thought that the bridge some 4km away had collapsed, but almost instantly he noticed that the flood waters were receding, and then he realised why. A section of the dyke, which had been about 6m high and 15m wide had collapsed. A section of about 40m long had just disappeared and the waters had taken the 17 houses that were located on it with them. The realisation of this was just sinking in when they heard similar noises from the opposite direction - but in the dark Jose could only guess at what was going on.

In the light of day, whilst it was still raining, they realised that three sections of the dyke had imploded, causing the flood waters to flow through into the low lying rice fields. 42 houses were lost, but no lives. 100 people had fled to a large house just before the sections had collapsed, and whilst the house was now an island surrounded by raging waters, they were safe.

Apparently earlier on the Thursday the rain had caused the nearby river to overflow. Then the dam burst its barriers, and emptied 5000-6000 cubic meters of water per second into the floodway.

Together these caused a 5m high wave to come rushing down the flood way, eventually destroying sections of the dyke and hundreds of houses. Jose's neighbours had lost everything; his house, though under waist high water, was still standing. For three days no one could get to them. The helicopter plucked a couple of people from the water, but could not operate safely, and the rescue boats couldn't be deployed because of the current. No one had eaten for three days and everyone was cold. But at last, 66 year old Jose could get into his house, and he dragged his sacks of rice out and with his family lit a fire and began boiling rice. For three days he fed between 20-40 people three meals a day - just plain rice, everything else was spoilt.

No NGO or Government agency was willing to try and access these people; when the local Salvos arrived they were the first Aid in, and the sight was welcome. Jose says, "I was just finishing my last rice supplies when Major arrived - he brought rice, bananas and sardines - I was so happy to see him."

It's men and women like Jose that are the heroes of the typhoon devastation in the Philippines. The Salvos have had the privilege of working with these people to feed over 6,000 families in the Northern Luzon area and over 50,000 people in all the affected areas.

So Far for The Salvos

It's been a bit of a busy few weeks but so far we have negotiated donations to the amount of USD 858,904.44 and with that The Salvos in the Philippines will:

• Distribute food, bedding and basic medicine packages to about 50,000 individuals
• Distribute basic cooking equipment and fuel to 2,500 families
• Set-up 5 regional Emergency Response Kitchen Units for the production of cooked food for this and future emergency situations.

Still There's More to Follow...

Some Geography: For those who don't (or didn't) know. The Philippines are made up of a multitude of islands, but the three main island regions, are (from the top down) Luzon, Visayas & Mindanao.

When tropical storm Ondoy (Ketsana) hit on the 26th of August, it cut across the middle and southern regions of Luzon. It confined most of its damage to the Manila Metro Region, an area with approximately 11.5 million people - and impacted the lives of around 4.3 million.

Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) cut across the north and east of Luzon on it's first pass, and then about 3 days later returned as a tropical storm and dumped a further record amount of rain on the north. Approximately 2.3 million have been impacted in these northern regions. But of greater concern is the fact that a great deal of the Philippines rice, corn and other crops come from these regions - and the harvest has been wiped out.

Until today the regions of Visayas and Mindanao have escaped - but today the Government has announced the pre-evacuation of large areas of low lying communities in these regions due to the heavy rain expected with an incoming tropical storm. Once again the concern is flooding and landslides. This strategy saved lives in the north when Pepeng was expected and once again the head of the National Disaster Council says, "it's better to be safe than sorry".

Christianity: Advert or Action

I found my anger, annoyance and frustration levels rising to boiling point this morning (my companions may have noticed). And it had little, if anything, to do with typhoons, flooding, landslides or relief and recovery programmes.

Sitting across from me where 4 people from a church in America, the back of their T-shirts told me that. But on the front of their shirts was a large colourful circular logo. In an outer ring there were a number of religious/spiritual logos: the crescent moon of Islam, the Star of David, the Yin-yan of Tao, Ganesh of the Hindus, about 12 symbols in all. And in the middle of these a large cross, with the words "EVERY Knee WILL Bow" emblazoned across it.

MY opinion: Rather than advertise my faith superiority on a t-shirt and carry my big black, gold leafed, red letter bible under my arm, I'd rather "show them by my love". I seem to recall a famous teacher saying something about this kind of flashy, judgemental Christianity.

Give me a person that is determined to express love through their actions, a person that seeks out ways to smile and share hope, a person that allows their actions to be the advertisement of their Motivator. Now that kind of person I'll work with!

But hey, that's just my opinion.

The Faces of Evacuation

The day started early as we wound our way through the chaotic maze of traffic and pedestrians to the office. We were about to begin negotiations which, if successful, would see us supplying 25,000 people with enough emergency rations for a month. This sounds a lot, until you get an email from the UN team to tell you that this morning the number of people affected by the two typhoons has risen to over 6.4 million, with over 340,000 still in 752 evacuation centres, over 500 dead and who knows how many missing - and a forecast of 5 more typhoons (of who knows what intensity) to hit the country before December 31.

The good news is that the deal looks (is) solid, but now we have to purchase the items, including 250,000kg of rice, pack and deliver 25,000 individual relief packages in the space of two months.

Following these meetings we took a member of the donor organisation on a tour of one of the worst affected areas in Metro Manila which two weeks after the typhoon is still under smelly, dirty, polluted water. It was here that we met the Chair of one of the Pasig Home Owner's Associations and her husband. This older couple has been confined to the second story of their house for the past two weeks and during that time have recieved 2kgs of rice and some sardines. We came today with nothing, but they were so grateful for our visiting them. Despite their hardship we managed to laugh together and enjoy comparing stories. We had all just heard an announcement that the water was going to be pumped out of the area - "but where to", said the couple "the river has overflowed into the village, where are they going to pump the water to?"

After leaving this, just one of the countless villages under water, we headed to what would have to be one of the most distressing places I have been on this deployment. 2,307 people are living in a sports centre in town, this is just one of three evacuation centres in this town with a total of over 4,000 in all three. The smells of 2,307 people, living in a confined space for over 2 weeks, assault your senses even before you get into the building. In this hot, humid, smelly basket-ball stadium cardboard is spread on the courts for beds, children and elderly are sleeping whilst chaos reigns around them. Many are stretched out in the stadium seating, while babies scream and children whinge, Mums and Dads look for ways to pacify and entertain.

The authorities are doing all they can, but there is nowhere for the majority of these people to go home to. They are the 'informal residents' those that erected squats on the sides of floodways and rivers - they have no claim to land, or now belongings: so they wait until suitable arrangements can be made. But even as we were there more people arrived from new flooding.

The Misery Expands

Metro Manila and Rizal (where The Salvation Army's Joyville Home and the Training College are located) experienced the worst flooding in 40 years and today it is estimated that over 300,000 are still crammed into makeshift evacuation centres and at least 636 are now confirmed dead.

But as if that wasn't enough since last Friday and the return of Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) the regions to the North of Manila, (including Pangasinan and Luzon) have been decimated again by record rains which have resulted in breaching of dams - and together are resulting in landslides and flooding that have to date killed at least 299 with the number of missing "impossible to measure" and an estimated 42,123 people in evacuation centres in one region alone.

Over 4.5 million people have now been impacted by the two Typhoons - and Typhoon season is not over. As we handed out relief packages in one of the worst hit areas last week one young woman, with a baby in her arms asked, "don't you feel sorry for us? And we have heard that another typhoon is coming beginning December!"

The current flooding is not anticiplated to recede in some areas for 5 months, already many of the people most affected live precarious existences, some choose to live in a shanty town on the edge of a floodway or in an 'illegal squat on the shores of flood prone lakes, in an effort to eke out a living for themselves and family. They knew the risks - but what choices did they have? But before they begin to contemplate relaxing and rebuilding their lives, they hear - there's more to come.

The rest of the world moves on - the news cycle has moved beyond the Philippines to the latest disaster or movie star, but as it does the water levels in the dams continue to rise beyond their tipping point, Pepeng continues to hang around teasing an already traumatised people and the rains continue to fall. The misery continues, and if possbile increases for the Philippines and her people.

Santa Rosa, Laguna

Today started early after a long night of calls and texts reporting that the cities to the North of Manila were under water, some for the second time. Dam walls have collapsed, rivers have overflowed and many villages, (including Salvation Army Corps, and our School), are up to 8 feet underwater - as the rains continue to fall. And there is absolutely nothing we can do to help yet as access is impossible.

With this news as a backdrop we waited patiently for our truck to arrive so that we could load 1,000 food packages for our latest delivery - this time to the South of Manila into Santa Rosa, Laguna. Almost two weeks ago, this community, like many others were 6 feet underwater when a local school teacher called her friend, a Salvation Army Officer and asked if there was some help that could be given. The call was the catalyst for todays adventure.

Manila Central Corps (church) was piled high with the sacks, (12kg of rice, 5 cakes of noodles, and about 1kg of assorted canned fish and meat). Teachers from the barangay school, councillors from the Santa Rosa Council and Salvo staff and officers formed a human chain as they loaded the thousand sacks onto a truck supplied by the Santa Rosa Mayor. And, as the sky turned a threatening shade of black we headed off in convoy, headed for the little barangay (village) by the lagoon that two weeks after the rain was still 5 feet under water in area.

Unfortunately, as can happen, not all worked according to plan. We arrived in Santa Rosa City where we were joined by an armed police escort, they were concerned that as this was the first supplies that would go into the area that there could be some issues with crowd control. And then we discovered that our entrance to the village was a the narrow main road that wound its way through the villages of the city, with a spiders web of electrical cables that hung so low that the truck could not pass without coming into contact with them.

As the first contact threw up some sparks and caused a surge through the electricals of the truck, the driver stopped to consider his options. Solution: put one of your truck crew up on the roof, behind wind spoiler for protection, with a stick to push up, or aside the live cables. It took about one hour of moving electricals, dodging jeepneys, motor and peddle cabs, and at times driving through 3 foot deep water all at the same time to travel the 4km into the village but we made it.

As we cleared the last bridge and waded through the last few hundred meters of water we were met by a sea of people, all waiting to great and thank the Salvos for coming. We had food for 1,000: there were at least 3 times that amount waiting for us.

As the rains continue the needs of this tragedy are growing. At this time it is anticipated that waters will not recede in some areas for up to 3 months. The people are amazingly resilient, but behind the smiles and the 'thank you' lies a fear - for some a growing fear of water, and for others a very real fear that the typhoon season is not over!

The Salvos & The Typhoons

Since September 26 when Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) swept across the Philippines and impacted the lives of over 4M people, The Salvos have been working tirelessly. In Salvo terms, Ondoy restricted her damage to just the one Division, the Central Philippines Division, or National Capital Region (NCR) As a result the Divisional Headquarters in Quezon City has been transformed into an Aid Centre with the usual sights: sacks of rice, cans of sardines, boxes of noodles, piles of blankets and mats and bottles of medicines. The staff of the three centres located on this property (Quezon City Corps #2, Bethany Centre and DHQ) have been packing and sorting for almost two weeks now.

In that time The Salvos have distributed:

• almost 12,000 food hampers
• to over 50,000 people
• in 8 NCR Cities
• in 22 Barangay (villages)
• at a cost of over USD 80,000

Despite this, and of course the thousands of deliveries made by other Aid Agencies, there are still people that cannot be reached because the flood waters are still too high. There are people who today are being evacuated from their homes becuase the ground is sinking and their houses with it.

In the North, Typhoon Parma (Pepeng, as it's known locally) after crossing the country once did a U turn and is now hovering as a tropical depression. In the process it has devastated these farming communities and their crops, crops of corn that are a very significant percentage of this countries food supply.

In these next days The Salvos will escalate the distribution of food, (basic) medicines, blankets and mats, five-fold. As an Aid deliverer we have an advantage: having been in the country for many years we have people that know the areas and the people, they know who to speak to and where to go - and we are trusted.

Salvos of the world - you should be proud of what The Salvation Army in the Philippines is doing. Despite hardship and loss for many of them personally they are putting out their hands to others - and in the process they are transforming lives and reforming societies.

This is what Christianity should look like. Meeting the needs of others, without discrimination and without the expectation [albeit a hidden agenda] that the other will convert to my religion.

Philippines: Typhoon Ondoy

Today was one of those bizarre days that are experienced in emergency service response work.

Our morning started out early as we wove our way through the morning peak hour chaos heading for Quezon City and The Salvation Army's Divisional Office. It is from this office that the bulk of the response to typhoon Ondoy has been organised and it was here that we found the volunteers and officers, once again, after 9 days straight, packing food and loading a truck for delivery to a nearby evacuation camp. At the moment, because of the immediacy of the response the pack includes 5kg of rice, 5 cans of sardines and 5 packets of noodles. Hopefully in the next few days this will be expanded with the addition of a sleeping mat, blanket, water and a pillow.

From there we wove our way back toward the Central Business District, to Makati City, and the highly secure, plush 30th floor offices of the UNDP representative to the Philippines. Here, sitting in a climate controlled board room around a beautifully carved wooden table with amazing views of the Fort district we met with a number of key UN Agency officials and discussed the response activities of the Salvos and the role that we can play in future activities. We spoke about 3.5 Million people that are displaced, homeless and hungry - many still living in submerged neighbourhoods - refusing to leave home. We discussed the role of the international community, and faith based organisations like ours in complex humanitarian emergencies. It was all very civilised, academic and comfortable!

Two hours later, we were ushered through the guarded road barriers, past a canvas sign that proclaimed "Danger: Flood Area" and directed to park just as the water began to lap up against the wheels of the car. We had arrived in central Pasig. At the end of the palm tree framed road was the impressive facade of the Pasig City Offices - the only problem is that the road was not there.

There were hundreds of people were on their way to the market, or to their homes which were beyond the City Offices in anywhere between waist and chest high water. Enterprising young men had built floating 'craft' of all shapes and sizes and were charging to take residents into the market and their homes. There were impressive craft with cane lounge chairs, canoes, and cupboards - but the award for the most would have to go to the bath tub.

We walked as far as we could before we negotiated with a man to take us for a boat down Main Street, past the market and into the housing. People were smiling and laughing, calling out and asking, "Hey, Joe, what do you think of Pasig?" Our boat pusher, commented that 9 days ago people were frightened but today he said, "we smile, we joke, we laugh, what else can we do?"

Here, surrounded as far as I can see by 4' deep water children dive, swim and play, parents cook and clean, the market and some shops continue to do business, the garbage man tries to collect the floating garbage and the local barber cuts hair on the verandah of his shop. But amongst the smiles and laughter, I see eyes that are still frightened and confused, I see people that are worried. It's 9 days: the water remains and it's getting dirtier and smellier. Food comes, but only when a truck can get through, and even then not everyone receives a ticket to get it. It's only a matter of time before the sickness starts and everyone knows it.

Taiwan: Last Day

Tomorrow morning I fly out of Taiwan and head for Manila were I will assist with the relief and recovery work being carried out by The Salvation Army in the Philippines.

At least 140 people have died, officials report, and more than 270,000 were left stranded in flooding after Typhoon Ondoy (localy known as Ketsana) battered The Philippines. The capital city, Manila, and surrounding areas experienced wind speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour and the heaviest rainfall on record.

The major Tumana and Marikina Rivers – which flow through densely populated areas in the northern and eastern parts of the city – burst their banks, triggering a rush of water that quickly submerged entire houses. Other parts of the country have also been badly affected.

The Salvation Army has been tireless in its attempts to assist in the emergency response. In Rizal, for example, a landslide and flash flooding killed 35 people and many were stranded on rooftops more than a day after the storm.

The Salvation Army is providing shelter for more than 30 families, and preparations are being made to transport supplies from Manila as all the shops have been swept away.The task seems overwhelming but Salvation Army teams are being mobilised to provide an initial response of supplying food, drinking water, blankets and medicines.

Lieut-Colonel Ron Clinch, The Salvation Army's Chief Secretary of The Philippines Territory, reports: "This is only the initial response. Many people have lost everything, even household items and clothing. Supporting families in re-establishing their lives will be the next stage, including the need to help with funeral expenses."

Maolin - Mountain Magic

Maolin was one of the places on the "must see" list of Taiwan. Known for it's scenery: mountain ranges covered in green forest that reach for the sky, hugged a wide river that meandered through the valley. Aboriginal villages appear out of nowhere with their art and craft stalls, and statues that tell the story of their journey.

At the end of the road, deep in the mountains, and almost at their foot is the little village of Duona - famous for its Hot Springs - or it used to be! Today the springs are buried beneath what looks like half a mountain. And yet miraculously, no one died in this place, the village still stands and the school still stands proudly, even today, at the top of the village.

On the days following the typhoon over 2.5 meters of rain fell in two days in this area. Roads that hugged the mountains just disappeared revealing what looks like a mountain of solid rock. Bridges that closed the gaps over the rivers were swept away, roads (like the one above) just finish in mid air.

It's hard to describe the scene, and photos just don't do it justice. At one stage we drove on a new 'road' alongside where the old was, its obvious remnants 2 meters above our head. Huge concrete support structures have been swept into the valley hundreds of feet below, and houses that were in the way ended up half buried in the mud and silt that settled in the river beds.

On the way in we asked for directions - a man who we think was serious told us just to follow the yellow line down the middle of the road. We did, and normally it would have ended in Duona. But now it's the road that ends in mid air (just as well we didn't follow it).

Almost two months after the event the villages themselves have been cleaned up and people are back to normal. But so much has been lost - for the people of Maolin and Duona their livelihood was tourism - there are few tourists heading this way at the moment. Life has a long way to go before normal can describe it here.

School Projects

The Salvation Army in Taiwan has had the privilege of supplying a number of schools with essential equipment to replace damaged or destroyed materials. Included in the shopping list has been over 2,500 books, 1,000 uniforms, 1,500 sports uniforms, 2,000 pairs of shoes, 1,500 school bags, a mountain of stationary and a few commercial grade water filters.

As well as the practical stuff, which also included feeding and cleaning up in the early days, the team has conducted interviews with hundreds of victims of the typhoon and established new partnerships and bridges with government and other community organisations.

Yesterday, I was welcomed into one of the schools in Tainan like a rock star. It was very embarassing actually. 250 grade 6 and 7 kids standing and clapping as I entered a school assembly. (That never happened at my school.) I gave them some of the gifts and then I had to speak. They were told to listen carefully to some one that would "speak the English more proper than your English teacher". Talk about presssure!

This work can be taxing, it has major frustrations and complications, but the privilege of being part of a persons life when they need it the most is so amazingly humbling. To be able to share what I have with those that have lost everything reminds me of what it really means to try and be like Jesus. I have the privilege of doing what I can to rebuild and transform a life, not just physically but spiritually, (and not with the Bible and 4 spiritual laws under my arm either).

So tomorrow I'll tell you about my journey into Maolin and Duona - two villages in the mountains that were devastated by the landlsides and rain. Until then...

Do Not Beat

Located at convenient intervals along the super highways of Taiwan are great Convenience Stops. These vary in size but always contain a good, clean set of toilets, (a must on any long trip) and a 'Food Court' that boasts flavours (and smells) from all over the world.

Usually they also contain a 7 Eleven store with a full compliment of Slurpee flavours including some varieties that Australian connoisseurs would find interesting - and of course the usual Coke flavour. Regardless of the flavour these sugar water frozen delicacies attract children of all cultures - and hype them up. In a confined space one could be forgiven for wondering if the sign (above) doesn't have the sentiment right after all!