PSHF

Typhoon Odette (int. name: Rai) struck the central Philippines in the night of December 16th/17th 2021. The islands of Bohol, Cebu and Negros where the PSHF has field offices were badly hit with massive damage to crops and housing and tragically loss of life. We did an assessment of damage in our project areas and identified individuals and families who needed financial assistance to recover from damage to their homes or crops. A few people were in desperate straits with no real prospect of being able to rebuild their homes without outside assistance. Sheila Villan is one of the people for whom we plan to build new home from scratch. 

Sheila Villan (38) lives with her family in a squatter area near the seashore in Balangigay, Negros Occidental. Sheila’s husband Leo Moradas is a fisherman. They have four young children. She earns a living by gathering mussels at low tide and selling them as their source of income. 

This is Sheila’s story of the night of the typhoon:

“ We were told to evacuate to the Child Development Center in the early evening. My husband stayed behind to work with other fishermen in securing their boats. The evacuation Center was crowded and uncomfortable but we were grateful to be given food. The storm was at its fiercest during the early hours of the morning; I couldn’t sleep with the loud sound of the waves. I was also worried about my husband as I did not know where he was sheltering. I let my children sleep but my mind was on my husband. 

When the wind died down towards 4am, I left my children in the evacuation center and went back to my neighbourhood. It was a scene of devastation - fallen trees, tin roofs, broken posts and damaged houses. When I reached my home I felt so depressed, seeing my house collapsed on the ground. I then went in search of my husband and found him standing alongside his boat with some other fishermen. I was so relieved he was alright.

Jacqueline Sudoy

Typhoon Odette ( int. name: Rai) struck the central Philippines in the night of December 16th/17th 2021. The islands of Bohol, Cebu and Negros where the PSHF has field offices were badly hit with massive damage to crops and housing and tragically loss of life. We did an assessment of damage in our project areas and identified individuals and families who needed financial assistance to recover from damage to their homes or crops. A few people were in desperate straits with no real prospect of being able to rebuild their homes without outside assistance. Joemari Villera is one of the people for whom we plan to build new home from scratch. 

Joemari Villana is 33 years old and a resident of Hda. Carmenchia, Don Salvador Benedicto. He works as a sugarcane laborer. and has 3 sons.

This is his story:

At 6 pm the typhoon had not yet landed in Negros but the wind was very strong and branches started to fall. I anticipated that the electricity will be lost so we needed to hurry because it’s a long way to my relative’s house and we might find it hard to walk on the road without electricity.  We arrived around 8 pm in the evening. I secured my family first and at 10 pm I decided to go back home. I struggled to walk because of strong winds. Broken branches started to fly through the air, trees started to fall and the electricity was out but I continued my journey until I reached home. I packed important documents but the roof of our house started to fly off and my house was taken away by the winds. In just a moment everything was destroyed by the strong winds.  Later on, the winds calmed and I needed to recover at least some of the house materials to make a temporary shelter for my family. I searched nearby but found nothing until I reached the sugarcane field and there I recovered 3 pieces of damaged roof in different places. I felt so devastated and felt sorry for my family that’s there no home to live in. I told my wife about our house and she started to cry a lot, worrying so much, since we don’t have money to buy materials to rebuild a house.

Jacqueline, my neighbor’s friend, came to visit me, conducted an interview and took photos of my house. My mind doubted when she told me that the PSHF can help me to build my house but my heart felt so grateful. I prayed earnestly that this is the answer to my prayer.

Sherry Cataluña & Jacqueline Sudoy

Typhoon Odette ( int. name: Rai) struck the central Philippines in the night of December 16th/17th 2021. The islands of Bohol, Cebu and Negros where the PSHF has field offices were badly hit with massive damage to crops and housing and tragically loss of life. We did an assessment of damage in our project areas and identified individuals and families who needed financial assistance to recover from damage to their homes or crops. A few people were in desperate straits with no real prospect of being able to rebuild their homes without outside assistance. Estanislao Andrada are one of the people for whom we plan to build new home from scratch. 

Estanislao Andrada 73 years old and a resident of a Hacienda Camercita Don Salvodar Benedicto. Estanislao lives with his wife, son and grandson. He worked as a sugarcane laborer.

This is his story:

Before the Typhoon Odette came, my house suffered a fire. My son cooked our dinner using firewood. After dinner we went to sleep around 11 o clock in the evening but we were shocked to see our house was burning from the fire. Luckily we all survived the fire incident. Through the help of generous people we rebuilt our house. 

During Typhoon Odette my son already told the family to evacuate to the nearest evacuation center. After we ate our dinner, my house suddenly collapsed due to the strong wind. We crossed the riverbank in order to reach the nearest evacuation center but unfortunately we failed to cross because of a strong current of water. My son carried his mother while we were trying to cross by another road. The wind was so strong that I fell off onto the muddy ground. My son tried to hold me tight because the wind was so strong. I was afraid that I might be carried away. After 30 minutes of struggle we finally reached the evacuation center.  

Jacqueline Sudoy

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