Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines

Emergency relief

In the first weeks and months following the natural disaster, 42,000 families received food, household items and construction materials to rebuild their damaged houses.

Our partner relief organizations rapidly reconstructed simple houses and reestablished the water supply.

Reconstruction

Once our partner relief organizations had received authorization from the government to begin reconstruction work, they could begin building more durable houses.

They rebuilt 6,900 houses in total and repaired a further 4,900. Thanks to the advice and support received from the local people, buildings could be made more structurally sound in many places. These houses will be better able to withstand future storms and earthquakes.

In addition to these private homes, eight schools for 4,300 schoolchildren are currently being repaired or reconstructed.

The Philippines are frequently struck by heavy storms. We are therefore also funding the construction of three evacuation centres in which the local people can seek shelter during a typhoon.

New sources of income

Typhoon Haiyan did not only wreck many houses, it also destroyed many people’s means of making a living.

The coconut plantations that were many farmers’ main source of income were totally destroyed. It takes several years for these plantations to regenerate and again provide a livelihood.

So we helped 30,000 families to find an alternative means of making a living. For example, farmers now grow crops that can soon be harvested: vegetables, cocoa and other plants.

So our aid efforts on the Philippines are coming to a close. The remaining CHF 2.5 million in donations will be used to fund a project to secure sources of income, and to extend or adapt existing programmes.