Print version Email to a friend

Plan’s temporary work provides Philippine typhoon survivors cash & pride

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 06:49 GMT

Source: member // Plan International

Jimmy Olarita, 32, is among 62 families living in tents supplied by Plan and Irish Aid.

MINDANAO, Philippines -- Nearly two months after Typhoon Sendong devastated his wooden house on a river bank and took away his job in Cagayaplan de Oro, Jimmy Olarita -- a father of three-- still lives in a temporary shelter in an elementary school, taking care of his pregnant wife, three children and his ailing mother.

Olarita, 32, is among 62 families living in tents supplied by Plan and Irish Aid, pitched on the school playground, just days after the deadly storm struck his village and other cities in Mindanao on December 16.

A couple of weeks after the typhoon, which killed 1,470 and left 1,074 unaccounted for, Olarita lost his job as a excavator driver for a construction firm because of his repeated absences to tend his family at the evacuation centre.

Though provided with food, water, and other necessities by Plan and other aid organisations, Olarita needs cash for his children to go to school, diapers for his one-year-old and a soon-to-be born baby, and savings to build a new house.

“I need to work to earn some money. We can’t live on the relief supplies alone,” said Olarita.

A cash-for-work project – giving typhoon survivors the opportunity to earn money by doing labour work around their camps – will help address this need for cash as flood survivors await the government’s decisions on the new site for their rebuilt homes.

“Cash-for-work provides vulnerable families with the means to meet their varied and changing needs and priorities during a stressful period,” said Plan Asia Disaster Risk Manager Jorgen Haldorsen. “Earning some income while their livelihoods are being affected helps reduce stress in the family, which has a positive impact on children's wellbeing.”

Plan and other international aid organisations are taking turns to provide short-term paid work for flood survivors from clearing away hills of mud in the school to building toilets or making ditches as rain drainage around camps. Olarita is among 113 beneficiaries of the 10-day cash-for-work project Plan is providing for residents of this elementary school relief camp.

Typhoon Sendong, known internationally as Washi, caused heavy rains and flash floods on the night of December 16 in Mindanao, leaving 430,500 homeless. The strong current in the swollen river carried timber from illegal logging sites downstream, damaging houses along the bank.

Olarita said he used to make 500 pesos a day from driving an excavator for a large construction firm – enough for his family of five.. Under Plan’s cash-for-work project, he’ll now make 215 pesos a day for the next 10 days to help make ditches around his camp.

Expecting a fourth child at the end of February, Olarita needs a job close to his camp so that he can be close to his wife and family.

Looking to the future, he needs money for moving to a new site. “I hope to have some savings before we build a new home,” Olarita said.

To donate to Plan's work on this disaster, please follow this link.

FOR MORE INFORMATION,
PLEASE CONTACT:
Mardy Halcon Communication Officer Plan Philippines Tel: +63 917-5435210 mardy.halcon@plan-international.org