By Dominik Lobkowicz
On a visit to her native country, a Nobleboro resident on a trip to the Philippines in December found that despite millions of dollars of foreign aid flowing in after Typhoon Haiyan, certain areas of the country are still having trouble getting the help they need.
A tree uprooted in Altavas, Aklan when Typhoon Haiyan crossed the Philippines in early November. (Photo courtesy Rosanna Caswell) |
Rosanna Caswell, a Nobleboro resident originally from the Philippines, said she had already been planning a vacation to her home country when Haiyan, also called Yolanda, struck the island nation Nov. 8.
According to the Philippine government’s website, Haiyan brought sustained winds of 167 mph with gusts up to 193 mph, killing over 6000 people and injuring nearly 28,000. Nearly 1800 people remained missing as of Jan. 6.
Haiyan “caused widespread death, destruction and incalculable damage,” President Benigno Aquino said in a proclamation declaring a state of national calamity after the storm.
Despite the storm and the devastation left in its wake, Caswell went ahead with her trip in December. What she found was the emergency response of the government and other organizations had left outlying areas to fend for themselves in the intervening weeks.
Caswell had planned to make a visit to Tacloban, the provincial capitol of Leyte, which was one of the areas hardest hit by Haiyan.
When she arrived, she said the government was limiting access to the Tacloban area because of the debris and mess left from the storm.
“And the smell of the dead bodies – better to keep out for a little while and not to be sick,” she said. “I never really got a chance to go in that place.”
She did, however, get to visit the town of Altavas, Aklan, where her father was born and many of her relatives still lived.
The Altavas area was in the path of Haiyan as it crossed the country, and trees were left uprooted and the metal structures supporting power transmission lines had been bent over.
“Houses were down, totally right on the ground,” Caswell said. “And you’re not talking about small trees, these are really huge trees.”
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A power transmission tower toppled by Typhoon Haiyan. (Photo courtesy Rosanna Caswell) |
Caswell lost no relatives to the storm. “It was a relief, they just made it in time,” she said, but most of them lost their houses, and all of them ended up living together in a single stone house; a house that they had to build a new roof for.
Caswell’s relatives were all surprised to see her coming to offer help instead of the government, she said.
“They were all surprised, you can see in their faces they really appreciate someone is there,” she said. “One of my aunts who really recognized me was crying and so happy to see me.”
Even a month after the storm hit, power and communications were still out in Altavas, and the government’s distribution of relief goods at that point was limited to one can of sardines and one kilogram of rice per family, she said.
“That’s why they started crying, they say, ‘We are hungry and we cannot wait for the government to feed us, we do not know when they are coming to help us,'” Caswell said.
Caswell brought along some help herself, though. She was approached by others in the United States Bowling Congress league in which she participates, about bringing donations along on her trip, she said.
Caswell estimates she brought around $150 in donations from league members. “They said, ‘it’s not much,’ but at least it can help,” she said.
Her family members had to go to a nearby city that still had open markets so they could buy what they needed with the donations, she said.
After visiting Altavas, Caswell was exasperated with the lack of response in the area.
“It’s been almost a month and these people are still waiting for help. How can they survive?” she asked. “There’s no food, no power, and the government was so slow and everybody knows there’s a lot of help and donations from other countries.”
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A home knocked down in the winds of Typhoon Haiyan. (Photo courtesy Rosanna Caswell) |
Indeed, as of Jan. 7 power was still out in Altavas and six of the other 19 towns in Aklan, according to the Philippine government’s website.
Caswell believes the government has been aware the people in Altavas are in need, because the government was there on the ground when it distributed the food supplies.
“I was totally dumbfounded,” she said.
The government’s response to Haiyan was affected by the lack of a national emergency response agency like the United States’ Federal Emergency Management Agency, and by corruption in the government and outside agencies, Caswell asserts.
Caswell’s concern is so strong that she questions even donating to the Red Cross over doubts of how donations will be handled – not in the United States, but over in the Philippines.
“All I can do is feel so bad, and if I want to help them, I’ll just send my stuff directly to the family I want to help, because if I go to [another] organization, I am not sure if they are in good hands or not,” she said.
