Small things matter when everything is lost — About Plan — Plan InternationalSmall things matter when everything is lost — About Plan — Plan International
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Small things matter when everything is lost


            Posted by
            Nigel Chapman, CEO of Plan International
        



29 November 2013: On a hot morning, we journey south from our Borongan City Programme Unit back through Hernani to Salcedo, a district where Plan has worked for 12 years.
Salcedo is an exposed promontory, jutting out from the Samar mainland so especially exposed to the elements. It has about 200 Plan sponsored children living there. We arrive as a disciplined group of 400 heads of households queue patiently to pick up their family hygiene kits funded by USAID*.

Small things matter
Each family collects a kit after handing over a numbered coupon. There is a surprising amount of laughter and good humour. With almost all local schools closed for the foreseeable future, mothers and children spend some time socialising near the distribution centre.
Each pack contains soap, shampoo, toothpaste, sanitary towels, nail clippers, a comb and a towel. For families whose whole possessions have been washed away in the tidal surge, these small things matter.
Extra tarpaulins are being distributed to provide shelter, and many families whose homes are still standing are using them to patch up their roofs and walls. The blue Plan logo adorns many a home in Salcedo as we pass through.
Food distribution
Nigel meets former sponsored child Jade, who now works to help others affected by Haiyan.

Everyone knows Plan in this district. Indeed, some of the staff, like Jade who is on the distribution desk working as a community facilitator, were formerly sponsored children themselves. Her enthusiasm bubbles over... she has a tremendous energy about her.
There are plans over the next few days for extensive food distribution with thousands of "ready to eat" meals making their way by truck to Plan's distributions centres. The Plan team describe them as a bit like army rations. Whilst people have rice and some vegetables, protein is at a premium. Very little fishing has taken place since the typhoon. Major deliveries of rice are also expected as the logistics log jam is broken.
No self pity
So much of the infrastructure of Salcedo is damaged; there is hardly a community facility standing. And what remains will surely need to be destroyed with completely new buildings erected in their place.
In the damaged community hall, we shelter from the sun and have a simple lunch together. We talk of the traumas everyone has suffered, but there is no self pity. Just a focus on the job and the long haul ahead.
Back to school
We visit a school that survived the typhoon intact. Built by Plan and the local government in 2002 in the Catbalajon district north of Hernani, Talisay Elementary School had been used as an evacuation centre. Seventeen families stayed there at the heart of the Typhoon. Now it was full of children aged 6 and 7 resuming their studies.
At first they were shy meeting a tall Englishman from Plan; but they soon relaxed and shared their knowledge of simple English with me. They ran round the classroom without a care in the world. It was a struggle to leave as laughter had been scarce over these past few days.
An island of joy and happiness in a devastated world.
Support the emergency response: Donate to the appeal now
Read more about Plan’s response to Typhoon Haiyan
*Plan is not responsible for content on external sites.




Nov 29, 2013 03:15 PM




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