HOPEww Philippines Disaster Response Update

In the Metro Tacloban Christian Church and the Northern Cebu Church located in Daan Bantayan, 61 disciples lost their homes and all they owned. HOPE worldwide and our church partners rescued the disciples and evacuated them to Cebu City where conditions were not so desperate. Other ICOC churches in the Visayas affected are Bohol, and Ilo-ilo. At the present time, we are helping them access basic services and they are joining us in relief operations within their municipalities.

Please pray for the safety of our brother Gilbert from Tacloban Church who remains missing. Below is our disaster response plan that includes the current relief work HOPE worldwide is implementing in five locations affected by the Typhoon Haiyan and the October 2013 Philippines earthquake:

November 12 – December 15 – Delivering Relief

In Tacloban, Bantayan, Bohol, Aklan, Ilo-Ilo, HOPE worldwide and the churches will be distributing relief supplies to 50,000 displaced and starving people.

Week of November 19 - Through the help of AmeriCares, we will distribute 1,600 hygiene kits to the evacuation centers in Cebu City. The beneficiaries are survivors who have been waiting since last week in Cebu’s ports and airports to be evacuated via boat or a C130 to join their relatives in the provinces.

The Metro Manila Christian Church and NAC Relief are making it possible to provide 1,500 family relief packs - each valued at US$25. The packs include: rice, can goods, groceries and hygiene kits. They will be distributed to Daang Bantayan in Northern Cebu this Saturday and Sunday. A brother from the Taiwan church, 11 disciples from San Diego along with the Metro Cebu Christian Church are volunteering to help with the purchasing, packing and distributions of goods for 1,500 families.

Meeting the Needs of Disciples

HOPE worldwide Philippines is providing psychosocial support, housing, food, and healthcare to disaster victims within the Tacloban, Daan Bantayan and Ilo-Ilo churches. On November 16-17, HOPE worldwide provided two psychologists and social workers to facilitate psychosocial trauma and debriefing trainings for the Cebu Church volunteers. Groups of Cebu disciples have been assigned to be the support group for the Tacloban and Daan Bantayan disciple survivors.

• Tacloban and Daan Bantayan disciples were assessed by our psych staff to determine their psychosocial needs and the toll these disasters have taken on their lives.
• Manila and Cebu Church provided the disciple survivors with accommodations and helped meet their recovery needs.

Current Activities: 

HOPE worldwide Philippines together with volunteers from our ICOC family of churches are also currently serving and giving to families by providing:

1. Travel Assistance - Teams are helping survivors return to their provinces. We sponsored 101 survivors so they could return to Cebu City. The team was featured yesterday and today on ABS CBN, popular Philippines television stations and several national newspapers.
2. Counseling and comfort - In Cebu and Manila, volunteers provided counseling and comfort to patients in hospitals and evacuation centers
3. Play therapy and psychosocial activities – Hundreds of displaced children in Bohol, Cebu, Tacloban, Daan Bantayan and Ilo-Ilo are receiving support.
4. Lost Family Searches – Hww volunteers from the Arts, Media and Sports ministries set up a “Help Desk” to help disciples locate their missing relatives in the typhoon affected regions.
5. Healthcare – Donated medicines from our international partners, such as Heart to Heart, will be arriving soon to support our local health centers partners operating in disaster areas.

HOPE worldwide wants to thank you for your support that is making this response possible.