Posted by Falak Rahman
By Brian Wilson (Humanity First Canada) –
Monday, Nov 19, 2013
Humanity First (HF) teams from Canada, Indonesia and Philippines, conducted assessments in conjunction with the Canadian Armed Forces of Concepcion, Estancia, Sicogo Island. The feedback received is that the islands particularly off the east coast of Estancia, and down to Concepcion are VERY BADLY damaged. 95-100% total damage. Residents have seen in most cases no NGOs and have received essentially no assessments or support. The islands and all villages seem to be barely receiving enough food, but are getting some food and are getting by on a day-to-day basis. The Estancia area and islands nearby have a sufficient system for receiving water, and seem to be getting by with what they currently have.
Concepcion has municipal water supply, with 2/3 pumps operational. UNICEF provided them with a 5,000L water bladder, which they have not even setup or installed. Their Mayor asked the HF teams to install 3 of their NOAH water systems (1 in the City and 2 on the islands). The HF teams will return there tomorrow to assess the in-city suggested location and the islands. The Mayor is very cooperative, but there are questions about whether his stated needs are legitimate which will be confirmed tuesday morning.
Sara has be very badly damaged, and is in critical need of support and interventions. They have some food coming in, but have very little water. UNICEF installed an 8,000L water bladder. The Canadian team is looking to install a large water treatment plant there on the 23rd (50,000L / day). The HF team will evaluate if they can install one or two of their NOAH water systems there as an intermediary solution until the Canadian team gets their system in place, this can hopefully be done Tuesday or Thursday.
One of the HF Canada team members is out with a representative from Roxas City to address a concern that there are 5-6 barangay ( in the NE corner of the City with no clean water, and the Roxas City island comes there for water. If that assessment pans out, HF team will install a NOAH water system there this afternoon (Monday). Just recieved news that HF member has successfully installed one of the NOAH water system units, and is exploring another possible location for a second unit.
The HF team is having difficulty sourcing DEEP CYCLE batteries on Panay and will try and source in Iloilo. They have ordered for those along with some shelter NFI items (non-food-items).
In coordination with the shelter cluster lead, an immediate need has been identified for additional support in shelter NFI. The HF is also working with a Canadian lady in Iloilo who wants to help HF to price out some of the NFIs in Iloilo. Hopefully some of this will be sorted out today (Monday) so the distribution of these items can be started tomorrow. The island that the HF team went to yesterday would be an ideal location for distribution of shelter NFIs. The HF teams are doing some reconnaissance with the Canadian military to ensure that partnering with the wealthy leader on the island is not going to create longer term issues (such as have happened in other venues in the past).
The HF teams are also awaiting the arrival of the Education Cluster lead (UNICEF) who should be in the field shortly. Once she is there, the HF will be working on procuring 6 TLS’ (Temporary Learning Structures), which are currently warehoused in Copenhagen at UNICEF. They cost $1,700 each, and HF will be working to expedite shipment of these down to Roxas.
The HF team is working with WFP to coordinate logistics and storage of the aqua boxes in Roxas, so that they know where those items can be shipped to and stored, pending distribution.
Tuesday, Nov 20, 2013
The HF teams have installed two (2) of the NOAH water systems and have them operating.
These were installed in regions in the NE corner of Roxas. These are areas that still have functioning water, but not purified/filtered water. These areas are experiencing financial strain due to drastically increased pricing on bottled water, so HF made the call to install these units in these communities to help alleviate this.
One of the HF Canada team members will be heading to Sara and Concepcion tomorrow with the final two water units. By the end of day tomorrow these units will be installed.
The HF team is also working with their volunteer in Iloilo to cost compare nails, tent pegs, tarps, etc. Once that information is in, the decisions will be made about how to assist the shelter cluster needs. The HF is trying to source some local supplies in Roxas to provide a limited shelter kit solution to Roxas Island (just NE of the the main City). It hopes to arrange to get some more NFIs from Iloilo tomorrow to continue a shelter distribution for Thurs/Fri, on Sicopo Island.
The pictures of the disaster hit areas taken by HF teams will be posted soon
Categories: ISLAM