CARE Philippines: Emergency Relief Philippines | NGO Philippines

Typhoon Yolanda, internationally known as Haiyan, has become a name that’s hard to forget. The super typhoon wiped out homes, killed more than 6,000 people, and devastated agricultural lands leaving those who survived homeless and without any source of income. But for the people who witnessed its wrath, the only way to move forward was to pick up the pieces and rise.

Four years after Haiyan, affected poor and vulnerable communities in Visayas, Central Philippines have been engaged in various activities and trainings to recover, better prepare for disasters and adapt to climate change impact.

International humanitarian organization CARE has supported more than 600,000 people through different livelihood recovery programs providing cash grants and skill-building trainings to women microentrepreneurs, farmers, fisher folks, and commodity producers and processors.

“The country is regularly affected by typhoons and other hazards, and these hamper the recovery process. CARE works with these communities in building resilience to disasters and engaging more women to lead and participate,” said David Gazashvili, CARE’s Country Director in the Philippines.

According to the 2016 World Risk Index, the Philippines is the third most disaster-prone country in the world. After Haiyan, the country suffered from relatively strong typhoons such as Hagupit in 2014, Koppu and Melor in 2015 and Sarika and Haima in 2016.

CARE is currently supporting over 280 community associations such as women’s organizations, farmers and fisherfolks’ groups and local cooperatives through trainings on entrepreneurship, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, hazard mapping and contingency planning for disaster preparedness, women and development, climate change mitigation and other industry-focused subjects.

CARE’s assisted community organizations are now practicing organic farming and applying other eco-friendly and innovative agricultural techniques. Farmers and commodity processors are now using solar dryers for their products, building structures according to “Build back safer” techniques and ensuring that their livelihoods don’t degrade the ecosystem.

“The biggest challenge for these communities is to protect their assets from various hazards that’s why our emergency response is part of a long-term commitment. We place great importance on building local capacity, partnerships with local organizations and strengthening women’s participation,” shared Gazashvili.

Aside from financial support, CARE has partnered with various local non-government organizations, government agencies and local government units, universities and training institutions to provide technical assistance to people affected by Haiyan.

CARE continues to work with the affected people and reach more communities in the Philippines. CARE works in the most vulnerable and geographically isolated areas affected by Haiyan, with special attention given to women and girls and the most marginalized.

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About CARE: CARE is one of the world’s largest humanitarian organizations supporting more than 963 poverty-fighting development and humanitarian-aid projects in 94 countries. CARE has worked in the Philippines since 1949, providing emergency relief when disaster strikes, helping communities prepare for disasters, and implementing sustainable livelihood projects. CARE’s past responses in the Philippines include typhoon Pablo (Bopha) in 2012, Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013, Ruby (Hagupit) in 2014, (Koppu) and (Melor) in 2015, (Sarika), Lawin (Haima), Nina (Nock-ten) in 2016, earthquake in Surigao City and Marawi armed conflict in 2017.

Media Contacts: David Gazashvili, Country Director, CARE Philippines +63 917 510 6974 (dgazashvili@care.org) Dennis Amata, Info and Communications Manager, CARE Philippines +63 917 510 8150 (dennis.amata@care.org)

*For updates on CARE’s work in the Philippines, please follow us on Twitter @CAREphl and Facebook at CARE Philippines or visit our website www.care-philippines.org 

Leaders must put the needs of those disproportionately affected by climate change impacts – women and girls –  firmly at the heart of talks during the 23^rd annual UN climate summit (COP23), urges CARE International, the development and humanitarian organisation. With the UN climate talks, presided over by the government of Fiji, set to take place from 6 to 17 November in Bonn, Germany, an estimated 25,000 participants from nearly 200 countries have a chance to ensure that the disproportionate consequences of climate change on women and girls around the world are tackled.

Wolfgang Jamann, CEO CARE International, said:

“The quick successions of an unusually strong hurricane season in the Caribbean, recent typhoons and floods in Asia, and droughts and forest fires in recent weeks are a stark reminder that today millions of poor people are already suffering from climate extremes and are being displaced from their homes and stripped of their livelihoods. The devastation and suffering are acute in many of the poorest countries, for example, in Malawi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Fiji, Vanuatu and many parts of Africa, and CARE is actively supporting measures to build climate resilience in these countries. Women commonly face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change in situations of poverty, and the majority of the world’s poor are women: we are calling on the international community to give greater attention and invest more in helping the poorest and most vulnerable take actions to increase their resilience.”

Sven Harmeling, Head of the COP23 delegation CARE International, said:

“The Parties at COP23 know what is needed to end suffering while tackling the gender gap that widens from climate change impacts. They must adopt a gender-equitable loss and damage work plan that identifies sources to generate finance in the order of USD50bn per year for recovery following loss of homes, farms and land and the means to sustain their families. Governments must also decide to promote alternative farming techniques adapted to changing climate conditions which benefits the poor, as climate change increasingly undermines the food and nutrition security of small-holder women farmers and their communities.”

Fanny Petitbon, Advocacy Manager CARE France, said:

“Governments should come out of Bonn with an ambitious gender action plan. It must boost the effective participation of women in climate-related decision-making, who are still largely underrepresented among countries’ delegation leads and technical bodies, according to new UNFCCC statistics. Such a plan should also provide tools for countries to better mainstream gender equality in their national climate policies and promote direct access to climate finance for grassroots, women-led organizations and local communities. However, we are concerned that richer countries are not willing to adequately resource such a plan.”

COP23 also marks a crucial meeting on the pathway to finalising further rules required for the implementation of the landmark Paris Agreement, and increasing actions to cut emissions, aimed for 2018. Progressive developing and developed countries must stand together and resist any backtracking from the Paris Agreement by unwilling countries.

“The actions promised by the most powerful nations to cut harmful emissions from fossil fuels still fall short of the agreed upon goal to limit global warming to 1.5°C degrees above pre-industrial levels. This is a critical threshold which can still prevent many of the worst impacts on poor populations. COP23 must provide a clear way forward so that countries come back with more ambitious plans to cut emissions,” said Sven Harmeling.

CARE International will be attending COP23 with 24 international delegates from over 10 different countries, including the most vulnerable, such as Malawi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Vanuatu.

Read CARE’s key recommendations for COP23 here:

http://careclimatechange.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/CARE-COP23-policy-paper.pdf 

For further information contact:

Camilla Schramek, Climate Change Communications Officer for CARE International

cschramek@careclimatechange.org or +45 50 22 92 88

CARE International is a leading humanitarian organisation fighting global poverty and delivering lifesaving assistance in emergencies. In more than 90 countries around the world, CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women to equip them with the proper resources to lift their families and communities out of poverty. To learn more about CARE International’s work on climate change, please visit:www.careclimatechange.org

Story by Dennis Amata, Information & Communications Manager, CARE Philippines

Rhodora has lived in the mountains of Antique, Philippines since she was born. Her parents used to be upland farmers so she also learned how to survive in a community away from the hustle and bustle of urban living.

“We just have a simple life here in the mountains. Most of us are upland farmers relying on vegetables, root crops and fruits to live. It’s also difficult sometimes because we don’t earn much money,” she shared.

Just like most of the people affected by typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, Rhodora has also her fair share of terrible experience as the typhoon whipped her house to destruction and uprooted her fruit bearing trees in her village Osorio.

“It was something we couldn’t forget easily. We also lost access to the town proper due to our remote location and the road leading to our village became unpassable,” she said.

The people of Osorio in the town of Culasi struggled to get back on their feet when Haiyan destroyed their livelihoods. According to the municipal data, 17% of its people have income less than the poverty threshold. The typhoon destroyed primarily the abaca (tree-like herb) and banana plantation located in the mountains leaving people with no stable sources of income.

Rhodora, a 48-year-old mother of three, remains optimistic as she also leads a community group called Osorio Farmers’ Association (OsoFA). She believes that through her association composed of 113 members (66 are women), they would be able to spearhead livelihood opportunities for their community members.

But Rhodora knew that this wouldn’t be easy as they had to deal with various problems and issues. Abaca production has been the people’s primary source of income since Osorio has a total of 63 hectares of abaca plantation distributed among its upland areas. Abaca or Manila Hemp is indigenous in the Philippines. It is grown commercially to extract fiber that is processed into clothing fabric or high-quality cordage or ropes in a ship’s rigging.

Just like in other villages in Culasi, abaca farmers are victims of exploitative pricing, low production volume and low productivity of farms.

“Most of the abaca farms in our village were not harvested because many farmers didn’t have the money to fund their processing needs,” she said.

Osorio has the largest abaca plantation in the town of Culasi but the large number of plantation remained unprocessed. It has also become one of the reasons why our men opt to work as “sakada” – local term for migrant workers in Antique who travel to another province as labourers in sugarcane plantations.

“It’s hard for our families because the men had to leave their wives to work in another place for six months. The women bore the burden of watching over their children while their husbands were away,” said Rhodora.

Rhodora revealed the struggles of women whenever their husbands couldn’t send money to them.

“Before our husbands leave for Negros Occidental, we already requested for cash advance from their employers. So when they’re already there, the employers deduct money from our husbands’ salary until nothing’s left in their pockets,” she shared.

“As mothers, we had no choice but to also work and look for various ways to earn. Some women in my village went to another province to work as house helpers,” she added.

Though we already had our association that time, we also couldn’t do something about it because all of us were affected by the typhoon and still slowly recovering. Good thing that CARE found us,” shared Rhodora.

CARE has implemented the Community Enterprise Facility (CEF), a livelihood recovery assistance project in Antique where community organizations are supported through financial grants and trainings to boost the abaca industry in the province and provide economic opportunities to people affected by the typhoon.

In partnership with Antique Development Foundation (ADF), CARE has worked with OSOFA to start a community enterprise on abaca processing and marketing. CARE provided the farmers financial support for their abaca processing activities as well as the capital for the association to buy raw fiber from its members.

Through the CARE project, OSOFA has become an abaca consolidator of the raw fiber from its members who are all abaca farmers. The farmers have their own farms and upon harvesting and processing, they can now easily sell the fiber to the association and get instant cash.

“CARE has also provided us with various trainings especially on enterprise and financial managament so we could be capable of sustaining our livelihood,” said Rhodora.

CARE also helps OSOFA to partner with the local government unit for the information and education campaign about the abaca industry development and the value-chain industry.

“We are targeting to increase our production volume from 6 tons a year to at least 36 tons per year,” said Rhodora who also referred to Manila Cordage Company (MCC) as one of their biggest buyers of abaca fiber.

The demand for abaca fiber now in the market is pretty high. MCC requires a minimum of 300 tons per month for the 3rd class fiber (commonly used to produce ropes).

Rhodora now sees that their hard work starts to pay off. Most of the men in their community have decided to stop working as “sakada” and instead stay with their families because they already have stable livelihood — which is abaca production.

“People in our village now have interest in planting, harvesting and processing abaca because they see that others get to earn from it. Like in my case, I get to save support my children’s education and even provide their basic needs,” said Rhodora.

She is also happy to see that because of the CARE project, the men don’t have to leave their wives anymore and children get to spend Christmas with a complete family. The women now also join their husbands during harvesting and help them in extracting fiber.

Rhodora has high hopes in the development of abaca industry in her province. She sees so much potential and believes that her province could be one of the country’s top suppliers of abaca fiber.
“Just give us two years, I think we’ll be able to do it,” shared Rhodora.

Story by Dennis Amata, Information & Communications Manager, CARE Philippines

Aside from being a farmer, Marites Acebo has been a coconut wine producer for more than 20 years. It has become her family’s bread and butter and even supported her children’s college education. But things abruptly changed. Marites never expected that life could lead her to a difficult road ahead.

When super typhoon Haiyan devastated most parts of Central Philippines on 08 November 2013, the coconut industry in the Visayas Region was also crippled as more than 90% of coconut trees were heavily damaged or totally destroyed.

“People in my village here in Barugo, Leyte largely depended on coconuts as their primary source of income. Like me, I make wine out of coconuts for a living,” shared Marites, a 43-year-old mother of five.

“After the typhoon, all our coconut trees were destroyed. We suddenly realized that Haiyan even swept away our dreams and hopes for our families because we didn’t know where and how to restart,” she added.

For six months, Marites and other farmers in her village struggled to regain their livelihoods. The men continued to work as farm laborers while women started planting various vegetables and nuts primarily for food consumption while waiting for the coconut trees to bear fruits again which will take 7-9 years.

But the situation didn’t remain gloomy for Marites and the people of Amahit. They eventually received an opportunity to help her community recover from the typhoon’s onslaught.

“I was contacted by Fatima Multi-Purpose Cooperative (FMPC) since they had programs in our community before. They explained to us that they are in partnership with CARE to support communities affected by the typhoon,” she said.

Marites was tasked to facilitate the formation of a community-based association in her village Amahit. She immediately mobilized the farmers and oriented them about the project that would specifically focus on cassava production.

Cassava is a woody shrub extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical countries such as the Philippines. Its edible starchy tuberous root is a good source of carbohydrates and considered a major staple food in developing countries.

To support communities heavily affected by Haiyan, CARE implemented the Community Enterprise Fund program that provided financial and training assistance to community-based associations. This is to restore their damaged livelihood and provide economic opportunities to the affected people. In Leyte, CARE has partnered with FMPC to carry out the livelihood projects. The initiative is supported by the Canadian Government through the Global Affairs Canada.

“At first, they were hesitant to join because they weren’t sure if we would have regular buyers of cassava. In our village, farmers only planted cassava for our families and for our livestock. We didn’t consider it as a serious industry,” said Marites.

But after ensuring that FMPC would be their buyer and there’s already an existing market in the region for cassava, the farmers entrusted Marites their confidence to lead the association towards recovery. This eventually led to the establishment of Amahit Farmers Association (AFA) composed of 53 members (10 are women; 43 are men).

Through the guidance of FMPC and CARE, the AFA was able to prepare a business proposal for a community-based cassava farming and production enterprise. The association received financial assistance from CARE that was greatly supported by a series of skill-building trainings.

“CARE conducted a lot of trainings for us including the management of our enterprise and various practical techniques to improve our production,” said Marites.

“It was a huge help for us because majority of the farmers here didn’t finish studies. The trainings gave us additional knowledge specifically on financial management. I think that’s the most basic yet important topic,” she added.

Each farmer received 8,000 pesos (218.16 CAD) to plant cassava. They also participated in trainings on enterprise and financial management, productivity, marketing etc.

But the farmers of Amahit faced another hurdle as they bore the brunt of the strongest El Nino on record. Four months ago, their cassava was affected by the extreme drought that led to dramatic decrease in yield.
“Because of El Nino, our cassava didn’t grow fully. Obviously, the quality was significantly affected so we had to wait for a few months to replant. It was very unfortunate because even our farm irrigation dried up,” said Marites.

The farmers became frustrated after what happened but Marites continued to encourage her members to move forward.

“We are very thankful that CARE and FMPC were still with us and helped us bounce back. We were also linked by CARE with the Department of Agriculture (DA) to learn more ways to properly grow cassava,” said Marites.

When the effect of El Nino subsided and Amahit got to experience rain, the association started replanting cassava. Most members were also able to harvest cassava after four months. Each farmer harvested 600 kilos while Marites was able to

harvest 4,000.

Through CARE’s assistance and initiative, the AFA is now a registered community association at the Department of Labor and Employment. Because of this, the association is already recognized by the government and could easily access government services and support.

“Right now, we are very fortunate to receive support from the DA. They granted us a solar cassava dryer and gripper that would really help us in cassava processing,” said Marites.

Marites shared that they are planning to engage in cassava processing that would provide more income to the members. They are looking forward to produce cassava pie, cake and chips for selling.

“The women are really interested in leading the cassava processing activities while men are more comfortable in planting and harvesting,” she said.

Marites shared that more women in her community are now interested in joining the association. She thinks it’s a good start for our women to have additional sources of income.

Because of Marites’ hard work, commitment and ability to effectively lead farmers in her village, she was selected to be part of CARE’s Community-Based Development Facilitators or CBDF. A CBDF carries out CARE’s enterprise trainings with the local government unit representatives in other assisted communities.

“I didn’t expect that CARE would trust me to become a CBDF. At first, I was reluctant because I wasn’t able to finish my studies so I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it. But CARE told me that it’s not about educational attainment. The heart to serve is much more important,” shared Marites.

Marites accepted the new role and attended more trainings from CARE to prepare her for this endeavour.
“Actually when I was preparing my materials at home for the training I would conduct, my daughter asked me about my activity. I told her that this time I would be the one to conduct the training for farmers in other communities,” started Marites.

“My daughter told me that she thought I could only make coconut wine. She didn’t expect that I could even lead an association and be able to become a trainer someday. She said she is very proud of me,” added Marites.