DCA Sends Aid to Typhoon Haiyan Victims

The devastation in the Philippines which was brought about by Typhoon Haiyan last November 8 has been the center of media attention for almost three weeks since the storm hit central Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan is recorded as one of the most powerful storms to make landfall which caused catastrophic damage.

The impact of the storm surge has been tremendous- over 5,000 people have lost their lives, more than 25,000 were injured, almost 2,000 people were reported missing and an estimated 800,000 are displaced after Typhoon Haiyan left a wake of utter destruction.

The Deathcare Academy of Ireland in partnership with local volunteers in the Philippines have identified communities is the remote villages of the town of Dumarao in Capiz Province who have not received any form of support from the local or national government nor from any other public or private agencies. The residents of Barangay Dacuton, Barangay Sibariwan and Barangay Aglanot including two primary schools and one secondary school were the recipients of the donation.

The local residents have been pleading for help in constructing temporary shelters for their families. Local schools are struggling in holding classes with the students since the storm had completely ruined the school’s gymnasium and ruined the galvanized iron roofing of the buildings. On a dry day the teachers would conduct some of the classes under some shade, usually under a tree but it brings a lot of problems especially with November and December being a wet and stormy season. ‘Our students want to come to school but do not have any place to hold the classes because the roofs were blown away by the storm. We have divided the students into two groups composing of different grades and year levels. Then we ask each group to come every other day in order to accommodate them all.’ explained by one of the school staff of Dacuton Elementary School. The residents were screaming for tents, nails and other materials that they can use to build a temporary shelter.The volunteer organisation had gathered 40 people which formed 5 teams who went out to the schools and helped build temporary roofing for the school buildings. Tents, nails and wires were distributed to the families of the three recipient villages. Bags of food, clothing and blankets were also distributed. The students in Dacuton were very pleased to receive their packs of copy papers, notebooks and pens.

Please click link to view the video documentary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IbuSRr8LLs&feature=youtu.be