Haiyan one year on: With UNDP help, slowly getting back to normal

“I remember how scared everyone was,” says Marina Delubio, a resident of Barangay 88, one of the biggest suburbs of Tacloban City. “We were clinging to the rafters of our semi-concrete house but it sounded like the fury of the winds and the tsunami-like waves were still going to take us all away. My family and I were happy to survive, but in the next few hours we realized that we were left with nothing.”

One year ago, when Typhoon Haiyan struck Barangay 88, it left 80 percent of the homes completely destroyed, and the streets littered with bodies. The storm also caused massive destruction to public and commercial infrastructure, leaving most of the 2,500 families who live in the barangay without livelihood.

“I lost my job in the beauty salon which was looted empty right after the typhoon and was very worried for my family, ” says Marina – a single mother of one and a breadwinner for four nephews and nieces, and an ailing 86 year-old mother.

In the first few days following the disaster, UNDP was active at the devastated site, starting to remove debris and establishing an emergency source of income for those affected by the worst ever storm to hit the Philippines.

“In those early days it was vital to restore a sense of normalcy to the hundreds of thousands of affected people in Tacloban and the surrounding areas,” says Mr. James Abdul, Area Coordinator of UNDP’s Haiyan Response Programme. “Within days we had started a programme of cash-for-work, giving locals jobs to clear debris and dead bodies – so emergency services could operate and people could access schools, health clinics, roads and markets.”

In Barangay 88, this helped restore access to work and to local services for hundreds of families who lost their livelihoods.

“UNDP was among the first to provide assistance to us,” says Barangay Captain Emilita Montalban. “I want to thank UNDP for clearing San Jose Central School, the health centre and the streets. Removing the debris gave us jobs and hope. UNDP was a lifeline for survival at a time of desolation and chaos.”

Barangay 88 then became the first recipient of cash grants from UNDP to help small businesses. These cash grants, given to 300 small enterprises in Tacloban City, as well as the Municipalities of Dulag, Tolosa and Palo, are helping to restore self-confidence among the worst affected business owners who lost capital or productive assets from the storm.

“One year on, I am able to venture into a new business using the cash grant,” says Marina. “With the money from UNDP, I was able to start a food vending business and get back on my feet again. Today, we have a long way to go before we will have fully recovered but my family’s future is brighter because I have been able to maintain an income during this critical time.”

Today, Barangay 88 is a much happier place than it was one year ago. Building has begun and many homes and businesses are now restored. According to Barangay Captain Montalban, about 60 percent of the more than 1,600 homes that were destroyed by the storm are being repaired. At the same time, nearly 400 displaced families have been relocated to transitional shelters.

But the road to recovery is a long one. UNDP has begun the process by providing emergency income in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, and in the future it will help the government to map the areas that remain most vulnerable to future disasters. In Barangay 88, a pilot of this mapping programme is already helping families to resettle – with government assistance – to areas that are less dangerous.

But for Marina, the recovery is happening one day at a time. “We have a long way to go – but the worst is behind us. Typhoon Yolanda [as Haiyan is known locally] took away our means of survival but it left us with hope and a strong, resilient spirit,” she says. –http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/presscenter/articles/2014/11/06/a-un-a-o-del-tif-n-haiyan-las-filipinas-recuperan-las-oportunidades-econ-micas.html