Being offline for months has its good and bad parts, but I had to carve some time to advocate for the people of Philippines. I recently started to learn and work in the area of emergency relief and disaster management, and seeing first hand the devastation of sudden onset disaster is an out of this world experience.
Disasters becoming more frequent since the turn of the 21st century,will challenge governments and different spheres of the civil society to work closely in taking a more prominent role in the prevention of a disaster’s adverse outcomes. Now, confronted with Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the eastern Philippine coast, we learn of the many downfalls of emergency preparedness, but we also learn about worldwide mobilization and compassion.
The people of Philippines are in desperate need of our help. Organizations on the ground report about 10,000 casualties and about 10 million people internally displaced. There is a critical need of emergency aid including basic needs like food, shelter, water and hygiene kits.
Here is a short list of organizations on the ground which work tireless on providing that emergency relief, consider donating or socializing on different social network sites the work these NGO’s do on the ground. Your support is invaluable:
- Red Cross Society – the Red Cross is at the forefront of the the disaster management, providing life saving logistical support, human power and providing emergency health services
- World Food Programme – the largest humanitarian agency that works to fight hunger worldwide. WFP already has dispatched a convoy of high energy biscuits for the typhoon survivors.
- Doctors without Borders – MSF will focus initially on Leyte Province, the area first hit as the typhoon came ashore, and where many medical facilities have been destroyed or damaged.
- UNICEF – your monetary donation will be directly used to provide basic supplies, food, shelter and water to those children affected by the typhoon.
These are just a very short example of world-class humanitarian agencies that are currently fighting for the people of Philippines, I could add many more agencies like MercyCorps, World Vision, Catholic Disaster Relief, Caritas, Samaritans Purse just to name a few.
Hopefully, this list will inspire you to be pro-active in the face of disasters and extend your kindness to those affected by them!
Lost In Aid 