The months of February and March 2014 had been principally focussed on preparation for the next phase of MiHANDs intervention on the victims and survivors of Yolanda (Haiyan) in central part of the Country specifically the province of Leyte and the City of Ormoc.

It is sad to note that after five months thousands of Yolanda survivors are still protesting about the government’s inefficient response to the tragic event. The survivors that protested on April 8, 2014 to mark the fifth month of the calamity said that every day since Yolanda has been a disaster and the government-distributed rice is almost inedible while rice intended for relief ended in the wrong hands and sold in market still with labels “Not for sale”. Many families are still living in tent houses because they are not qualified to live in the bunkhouses built by the government and they have to wait until they are relocated. To cover this inefficiency they handed out PHP 10,000.00 cash to the survivors. What will they do with the cash? Surely, it can buy them food, clothing and some other needed equipment and materials for their daily lives for a short time but surely it cannot rebuild a house. The prices of goods have skyrocketed and have not returned to the pre-yolanda index since then. The minimum amount to rebuild a house made of light materials is estimated at PHP 40,000.00. The cash hand out was done maybe just to pacify the survivors for a few days and to quell the rising unrest for some time.

Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAiTH), a webpage (www.gov.ph/faith) under the website of the official gazette of the Philippines that went online on December 8, 2013 was established to track donations from foreign countries for the Yolanda disaster. It said that the government received only PHP 643,203,308.23 foreign cash aids for typhoon Yolanda out of the PHP 3,093,682,576.03 cash pledges from foreign countries as of April 8, 2014. The non-cash pledges totaled PHP 22,788,677,450.64 but no details were posted on how much was received. The cash and non-cash pledges totalled PHP 25,882,360,026.67.

As of April 17, 2014, The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) had assessed a total of PHP 89,598,068,634.88 as damage to properties caused by Yolanda. It is broken down into Infrastructure at PHP 9,584,596,305.69, Productive at P21,833,622,975.09, Social at P55,110,825,740.69 and Cross-sectoral at P3,069,023,613.41. The death toll continued to rise and have reached the 6,300 mark, 1,061 remain missing while 28,689 were injured. Total number of damaged houses is at 1,084,762 with 595,149 partially damaged and 489,613 totally damaged. The total affected families are 4,315,488 with 20,173,461 individuals.

One cannot be certain of what is actually happening on the ground. The data above only present the general picture and nothing more. The government is quick on announcing plans for rehabilitation and publishing statistics about the disaster but when it comes to the question of what has been done the answer is coming very slow. The only way to know the real score is to be on the ground with the people. To live among them and share on their grief and sufferings.

MiHANDs is proud to have done something for the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda although the 1168 families who received relief assistance is only a few compared to the four million plus families that were affected, in its own little way and numerous help from its partners. MiHANDs also extended medical assistance (mostly Herbal and Oriental Medicine) to 522 individuals while 563 children of varying age attended the psychosocial activities that were conducted. Six barangays were served during the first phase of MiHANDs intervention, one barangay each in the municipality of Villaba and Palompon and four barangays in Ormoc City.

As MiHANDs closes its first phase of intervention – Emergency Response, it wants to convey to all of its funding partners the gratitude for all the help in achieving its goals and invites them again to support a more bigger and challenging phase – The Early Recovery and Rehabilitation stage. MiHANDs needs to gather all the help that it can get to provide a more comprehensive and sustainable response for the second phase of its intervention.

MiHANDs is presenting the total amount it received from donors and partners (local and foreign) and the total amount it spent during the first phase of its intervention. The humanitarian activities covered the month of the 3^rd week of November 2013 to March of 2014. Again, MiHANDs and its volunteers would want to express its deepest gratitude to the magnanimity of its partners and donors. Indeed, we have made a difference on the lives of the victims and survivors of the Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and this is just the beginning.

For the financial report, please see Update No. 1 for the second phase of MiHANDs intervention “Early Recovery and Rehabilitation”.

Mi-HANDs

To send donations to support Mi-HANDs action

The international funding campaign continues. Donations can be sent through ESSF.

Cheques
cheques to ESSF in euros only, payable in France, to be sent to:
ESSF
2, rue Richard-Lenoir
93100 Montreuil
France

Bank Account:
Crédit lyonnais
Agence de la Croix-de-Chavaux (00525)
10 boulevard Chanzy
93100 Montreuil
France
ESSF, account number 445757C

International bank account details :
IBAN : FR85 3000 2005 2500 0044 5757 C12
BIC / SWIFT : CRLYFRPP
Account holder : ESSF

Through PayPal
You can send money through Paypal: see the PayPal button on the upper left side of ESSF home page [English version of Paypal form is on the English Home page].
https://www.paypal.com/fr/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=HYicOYx_ee-jYpZ4KT0Lb30CFQ__alLhQDaCsf2UhDzHgORSJCLJk_DiCqy&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8def8934b92a630e40b7fef61ab7e9fe63

We will keep you informed through our website of the state of the permanent solidarity fund and how it is utilized.