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Jednel: Recovering from Typhoon Haiyan 1 Year On




Jednel, 10, a month after Typhoon Haiyan
Jednel, now grown up at 11, is positive of his future
Jednel in his neighborhood in Tanauan in Leyte province
Jednel hears Sunday mass with his family



Leyte, November 2013
We met Jednel and his family for the first time just 3 weeks after Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines. We were driving south from Tacloban City and stopped the car to explore an area that was badly hit by the storm surge. A smashed soda factory, ruined houses, wrecked cars and fallen trees were all that we could see. The air was thick with smoke from burning waste.
This area was Tanauan, a coastal community just 20 kilometers south of Tacloban, and one of the most heavily affected areas in the aftermath of Haiyan. As we began to explore the area, clearing a pathway full of debris, we came across a young boy named Jednel. He was with his friends, looking for scrap metal that they could sell to make a small income.
 Soon after our introductions, Jednel began to tell us about the day Typhoon Haiyan hit his community: “When we heard the warning my mother said: ‘Brace yourself, there is a typhoon coming. Please my son, be brave.’”
 “We ran onto the roof of the house of our neighbour. We were so terribly scared and cold in the rain and the wind. My brother’s lips were blue and we thought he was going to die. But he survived. We saw a lot of dead people on the street. It was so sad. Everyone cried.”
 As Jednel recounts the days following the typhoon, he leads us to his school, Santo Nino Elementary, which was destroyed by the 6-meter storm surge that followed the typhoon. The school was used as an evacuation center, though many died when the water swept one kilometer inland.
 “This was the principal’s office,” says Jednel as he leads us through piles of rubble, broken glass and furniture. “I miss school; it was like a family.” 

Leyte, May 2014
Six months after Typhoon Haiyan, community members have cleared most of the rubble. Slowly, the community is starting to come alive again. Shops have opened and the streets are filling up with cars, bicycle taxis and people selling fruit, barbecued meat and sweets.
 It’s summer and the local Filipino children are on summer holiday. We find Jednel in the living room of his great grandmother’s house, watching TV with his little brother, Jenshaw. Both look well and relaxed. The sweltering heat makes it unbearable to be outside during the day.
 "I feel better now and don’t think about the typhoon that often any more. But every time it rains I get scared. We have evacuated three times since Haiyan due to storm warnings. Each time, we rush to my teacher´s rooftop terrace,” Jednel says.
 Jednel continues: “I was happy when the school opened again in January. We still have our classes in a tent, but it doesn´t matter.”
 Jednel’s friend, Sheremae, joins him in the sofa. They laugh at the cartoon characters dancing exuberantly across the television set. “We’re still not allowed to play outside because there is dangerous stuff on the ground. During the holidays, I spend most of the time playing with my friends and watching TV.”
Leyte, September 2014
 The typhoon season has started again. It’s pouring with rain as we walk Jednel to school. He’s grown significantly and is more confident that when we first met him one year ago.  As we look around, we notice that the landscape has changed. Unlike before, the roads are now clear and the tropical vegetation has made the landscape green and lush.
 While Jednel’s school is formally rebuilt, he goes to class in a temporary school structure with walls made of wood and a roof made of tarpaulin. During the typhoon season, water seeped into the floors and the winds begin to pull at the canvas. "When there’s a storm, children are scared and begin to cry. It brings back memories of Haiyan", explains Marlon C Tangpuz, the School Principal.
After class, we join Jednel and his friends at the neighboring beach. The rain has stopped and the afternoon sun reflects on the sand, leaving a soft golden hue. The Pacific Ocean is calm. The children start playing tumbalata, a game where teams compete by hitting soda bottles with their flip-flops.
Jednel tells me, "This is my favorite place. There is a sense of freedom here, where my family can live and be happy and proud.”
After the game, the children run into the ocean to cool off. For this coastal community, the sea has always played a crucial role in their lives. Besides fishing for food and as an income, the ocean has always been the source of ‘fun’ for children. Typhoon Haiyan changed all of that. When the storm surge hit the costal community and damaged boats along the shore, both the fishing and the playing stopped. Now, only 10 months later, can children play along the shoreline.
Jednel tells us about his plans for the future: “When I grow up, I want to be a scientist. I want to learn about typhoons and what is happening to the earth. I want to go to school so I can fulfill my plans and support my family. And I want to have a big happy family…that’s all,” he recalls with a smile.

Sofia Klemming Nordenskiöld of Plan Sweden and documentary photographer Pieter ten Hoopen travelled with Plan to the worst affected areas in the country and met some of the children and their families whose lives had been turned upside down. A year on, Plan went back to see how the children were getting on.






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