Disaster Response, Risk Reduction and Management, and Resiliency Building
Summary
Tropical Storm Washi or Sendong (local name), on December 17, 2011, hit Mindanao affecting around 70,528 families or 388,836 persons, distributed throughout 184 barangays within the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon, and the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan. The number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) inside the evacuation centers reached around 4,870 families or 22,868 individuals, with another 34,955 families or 197,480 persons staying wherever they could outside the evacuation centers. The number of houses damaged in CDO, Bukidnon and Iligan reached 38,556 with 27,509 partially damaged and 11,047 totally damaged. As regards the number of casualties, 1,388 persons are reported dead, but only 871 have actually been identified; 1,992 have been reported injured. All this in the locations of CDO, Iligan City, Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Norte.
Based on official reports, those severely hit were communities living near the riverbanks, mountain slopes, and flood prone areas, especially at the downstream portion of the rivers; and most deaths were caused by the sudden rise of floodwaters, spilling over from the river channels and bringing with them flowing mud, uprooted trees of various kinds and logs that were carried away by the deluge of flowing water.
First things first, Balay Mindanaw made sure that all members of the Balay Mindanaw Group and their families are safe and secure. It offered its Peace Center to be a home to those who were badly hit by the floods. Then, it started looking at the bigger community. It sent out a call for a more structured response to the disaster – assessed people and communities’ immediate needs, called out for support from friends and partners, organized volunteers, transformed itself into a relief provider institution.
Realizing that among the very first to respond to the call were the Balay Mindanaw colleagues who were themselves “victims”, it deliberately adopted the slogan: “We refuse to be victims. We choose to be resources”.
The disaster turned “opportunity” for Balay Mindanaw to seriously craft its disaster program. Hence, the new program Disaster Response, Risk Reduction and Management, and Resiliency Building (or its “building back better” blueprint).
The DRRRMRB Program will generally focus on community disaster preparedness and post-disaster adaptation while offering practical support to communities in the recovery process. This work will engage at both household and institutional levels, focusing on environmental risk reduction, development of livelihoods and on sustained improvements in local governance. This will look forward to developing partnerships with local government and communities, incorporating the need to build adaptive capacities, especially with regard to the challenges posed by climate change and the ever more apparent need to properly manage the riverbasin and watershed around the city through an effective community-based, community-managed program of disaster risk reduction.
In all this, Balay Mindanaw sees the need for participatory social processes, especially ensuring those most affected as active participants in managing their future communities. This need at present is not that given attention as most of the providers are into doing emergency responses.
Here are some of the challenges raised by the IDPs that needed immediate organizing interventions:
• No clear and inclusive information dissemination as to when, where and how they will be moved from the transitional to permanent shelter (This might have caused the increasing cases of suicide, mental cases, and other social problems – child molestation/ harassments, gender based violence, theft, drinking of liquors among men, playing of cards among men and women, etc.);
• Increasing cases of social problems (suicide, killings, etc.) Some survivors with totally damaged houses who opted to live with relatives than stay in the tents or ECs were still not given proper attention; renters, sharers and even lone survivors staying in the schools were treated “secondary” in the selection of beneficiaries for transfer to transitional shelters;
• Dynamics between the camp managers and camp leaders;
• Not all of the tent communities/ECs have committees installed (grievance mechanism, security/public safety, needs assessment, interfaith, sports and recreation, psycho-social, livelihood initiatives -to include women, etc.);
• Not all tent communities/ECs have enough friendly spaces for children, women, and for psycho-social activities; attitudinal problems even among relief assistance providers; and
• Weak coordination among stakeholders
• Unavailability of lands for permanent shelters resulting in the delayed construction of permanent houses
• Political bickering that resulted in the slow paced movement of survivors from schools to tents or bunkhouses
• Non-adherence to the international humanitarian standards;
• Limited technical resources for communities – village/barangay-based DRRM planning; Participatory Capacities and Vulnerability Assessments/analysis;
capacity building interventions; continued advocacy with strategic and relevant government agencies or networks.
Balay Mindanaw presently assumes the secretariat work to Sendong CDO Multi-sectoral Forum co-chaired by Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, S.J., D.D. and Atty. Araceli F. Solamillo, the Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). It is also actively involved in the various clusters – camp coordination and camp management, shelter, psycho-social, and joint protection. This forum likewise assigned Balay Mindanaw to take care of at least five Evacuation Centers since the first few days of the disaster, and then eventually included three tent communities.
In the conduct of Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) of Region X, Balay Mindanaw took charge of the Human Recovery Needs Assessment (HRNA) component assessing how TS Sendong has affected governance, social networks and coping mechanisms of people and communities. This will complement the Damage and Loss Assessment (DaLA). All this will be made solid basis for the formulation of Regional Reconstruction and Recovery Program.
Overall, Balay Mindanaw has received a total amount of P14, 400, 072.67; with cash amounting to P4, 692, 425.67, and non-cash P9, 707, 647.00. It has served around 3,949 families or 19,745 individuals.
Disaster Aid Volunteers
Some modest interventions:
• On Food Security, Nutrition and Food Aid
Balay Mindanaw’s first wave of assistance was food package worth P400.00 to include five kilos rice, six pieces hard boiled eggs, six cans of sardines, and two 1.5 liters of water for each family. To date, it has served some 2,751 families or 13,755 individuals with food and other nutritional packages.
• Shelter, Settlement and Non Food Items
In cooperation with Disaster Aid International, Balay Mindanaw took one of the first initiatives to provide people with temporary resettlement (100 tents), thereby helping to decongest the evacuation centers. As far as possible, Balay Mindanaw has operated according to SPHERE standards.
It now assists 165 families or 835 individuals in three tent communities. Child-and-women friendly spaces with the support of some like-minded groups have also been established in these tent communities.
With Habitat for Humanity (HfH), Balay Mindanaw was able to distribute 700 shelter repair kits consisting of flex boards, corrugate GI sheets, good lumbers, assorted nails, and tools (hammer and handsaw).
Some 2,046 students have also been assisted with school supplies. Other items such as hygiene kits, solar bulbs/lamps, water purifiers or life straws, housekeeping, beddings, clothing, and kitchen utensils have also been distributed to 1,198 families or 5,990 individuals in 41 evacuation centers or transitional shelters including some hinterland areas in the city.
• Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Promotion
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) committees along with the other committees have been created in the tent communities. With the Catholic Relief Service (CRS) and Action against Hunger (ACF), regular water quality testing most importantly water supply have always been provided. The First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative (FIBECO) and the 4ID have also been with Balay Mindanaw in this area of intervention.
• Health Services
Balay Mindanaw, with the continued support of various institutions (academe, other LGUs in Mindanao) doing mental health, counseling and other psycho-social services has served 1,174 families or 5,870 individuals. Continuing referral of psychologically challenged survivors (at least three cases) is being done.
Balay Mindanaw also caters continuing debriefing and stress management not only to partner communities but also to its own STAFF-CAREGIVERS.