With the incredible global response of volunteers and the difficult logistics, lack of vehicles, requirements for boat transportation, security, sanitation and potable water issues, it has been quite challenging but we are now moving forward.
Life-critical needs have been met but we are now in the long haul of home, church, life, and livelihood rehabilitation. Some government reports indicate that it will take 3-5 years to rebuild the infrastructure.
Many medical teams have been rotating through since the week following the typhoon, and we have now had two non-medical teams.
Three 40′ shipping containers and one 20’ container of supplies and equipment for rehabilitation work have cleared customs and we are praising God. Each container has a story of its own and each will bring tremendous hope to those who have been so gravely affected. Two containers are from NCM-Canada and two from NCM-USA. The contents include everything from Crisis Care Kits and School Pal Packs, to dried foods, tarps and tents, hardware, tools and equipment, household goods and sewing machines, office supplies, wheelchairs and toys.
The food is being distributed as immediate relief to the areas devastated by the typhoon and also to the other areas of the Philippines where Nazarene Disaster Response (NDR) is still helping to meet the needs including Bohol (Earthquake) and Zamboanga (devastating armed conflict).
The other items are being distributed by our teams on the ground, from the newly established sub field office in Tacloban, following the plans set in place when the key leaders with Nazarene Disaster Response, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, and the Philippine Field Office (PFO), met in Cebu City to pray, reflect, debrief, and strategize about what the recovery process would look like. At that time, plans were made for the deployment of additional volunteers in the area of debris removal / reconstruction / and livelihood development projects.
With the arrival of the needed relief items, and the critical medical needs having for the most part been met, we are now moving forward fully with the deployment of non-medical Work and Witness Teams.
Due again to the logistics, we must ask that all volunteers (unless under specific arrangements with the PFO) be part of an organized team, so that arrival and departure dates are coordinated. In many instances, the work site may be accessible only by boat/ferry, so attempting to handle multiple arrivals and departures of individual volunteers would become unmanageable.
The process for those who are still interested and available to volunteer will be as follows:
- If you are an individual volunteer, please visit the website link below and indicate your top three choices of time slots.
- If you are a full group, visit the link, select the top three choices for time slots, and in the “Other Comments” box, indicate that you are a group along with the number in your group.
- The time slots will be filled on a first-come basis.
- If you are an individual volunteer, you will be grouped into a team formed from other volunteers who have requested similar time slots.
- If you are part of a team, your team will be assigned a time slot based on your choices and the slots available.
To access the volunteer page to indicate your top three choices for dates you are available
You will be notified by the PFO of your slot assigned. Please do not make any travel arrangements until officially assigned your dates.
For planning purposes, please plan to arrive on the first day of the listed time slot and depart on the last day. It will be crucial that you honor these dates unless other arrangements are made with the PFO, so that we can accommodate the arriving and departing teams in an appropriate manner. When your team is assigned a time slot, you will also be informed of the arrival/departure city, which will either be Tacloban or Cebu City, Central Philippines.
A Team leader will be assigned by the PFO for each group within the specific time slot. The team leader will be your primary contact as you make arrangements. The team leader will be the liaison between the PFO and the team. If you would like to be considered for the team leader of your time slot, please note this in the “Other Comments” section of the web form. Also indicate if you have had past experience coordinating teams.
