Stories from the

Field

COMING TOGETHER
Annierose Radoc
Angeli Rae Tabao

And so the beginning took

place as Relief International
began its potential resolute and
sustainable collaboration with
religious
leaders
with
the
recently conducted WASH-DRRPhATS Orientation-Dialogue with
Religious Leaders.
Held at University of the
Philippines
in
the
Visayas
Tacloban College, the orientationdialogue was organized solely for
various religious leaders of Relief
Internationals LGU partners to
continue
its
efforts
in
strengthening
WASH
implementation
to reach more
sectors of the
community.
Participated
by
representatives
from
five
municipalities, 31
leaders from 19
diverse religious
groups
have
convened
to
understand
WASH,
its

As Henry Ford puts it,

Coming together is a BEGINNING;
Keeping Together is PROGRESS;
Working Together is SUCCESS.
implementation in the country,
and how it can be integrated in
Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).
The event has been an enormous
step
in
widening
their
perspective about WASH and its
importance at the community
level.
The dialogue was aimed to
mobilize the religious sector and
to
generate
much
needed
support
from
the
different
municipalities handled by RI.
Included in the discussions were

ways how to incorporate WASH in

their
teaching
and
daily
activities. Significant role of
religious community in DRR was
highlighted as well, where most
infrastructures
used
as
evacuation
centres
during
disaster are owned by religious
groups. Strategies to make the
said structures disaster-resilient

and ready with water and

sanitation facilities were highly
given emphasis.
Overall, the dialogue was
designed to mobilize the religious

sector towards achieving a

holistic WASH implementation,
and for the leaders to use their
learnings to become effective
leaders of their community. Their
involvement in the campaign
towards
total
sanitation
undeniably brought a clearer
picture of success of Relief
Internationals ongoing WASH
program
together with
the
integration of
DRR.
Behavioral
change may
be
a
challenging
goal but with
the
enthusiasm
shown
by
these
religious
leaders
to
work
together,
success
is
inevitable.

Stories from the

Field
AGAINST THE
CURRENT
Gigi Dajab
After typhoon Haiyan,
not only houses, but also
transportation
structuresroads, foot bridges, pathways
and
major
bridges
were
amongst the properties that
were badly hit. For people
living
near
the
city
or
municipal center or national
roads, it wasnt that bad as
government
and
private
sectors
(businesses)
made
extreme efforts to mitigate the
problem to facilitate transport of items
needed to assist typhoon victims and
to resuscitate the economy. It was the
people living in the remote rural areas
that suffered the both short and the
long term effects of the typhoon
destructions.
Unfortunately due to time and
logistics constraints further aggravated
by destroyed transportation structures,
distribution of relief packs/items and
other forms of assistance from both
government
and
non-government
organizations was a challenge or most
of the time not feasible. This was not
confirmed by the local officials nor by
the residents of Barangay Kinalumsan
and Impo of San Miguel Leyte but by
the look of the situation and the
peoples reaction when they saw Relief
International (the first INGO that set
foot and did an assessment in their

locality)
their
appreciation
was
priceless.
These two barangays are across
a relatively wide river at the foot of the
mountain (Impo) and on the mountain
side (Kinalumsan). The only way to
reach them is through a bridge but
was destroyed by typhoon Haiyan.
When a team from Relief International
was deployed to do a WASH
assessment
activity
for
every
household
and
for
the
whole
community, the people was deeply
touched by the dedication and
perseverance that the entire team
showed. As they assist them to cross
the waters through a raft, not a second
that they lost sight of our Relief
International staff to make sure that
they are safe.
Because of the local officials
equal
determination
and

perseverance, the assessment process

happened in no time and Wanda Lynne
Cabaltera, local RI Health Promotion
Officer said, I am very impressed with
the dedication and perseverance that
my WASH Field Workers showed today.
They did not think about risking their
lives just so they could do their job
well even if they can just delegate the
task to a local official. According to
Mon Cyril Albesa, one of the WASH

Field workers, I dont mind crossing a

river or ocean to reach the people that
we serve. If I get into trouble doing it,
then I know that I did what was
expected of me, as the famous saying
goes, the price of success is hard
work, dedication to the job at hand,
and the determination that whether
we win or lose, we have applied the
best of ourselves to the task at hand.