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ACTION AGAINST HUNGER STRONGLY CONDEMNS THE KIDNAPPING OF ITS EMPLOYEE ISHAIKU YAKUBU AND CALLS FOR HIS IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Last June, Ishaiku Yakubu was abducted along with 4 other aid workers from different organizations by a non-state armed group.

Action Against Hunger is extremely concerned and fully mobilized so that the hostage can quickly find his family, safe and sound.

Action Against Hunger provides neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian aid in the state of Borno by providing basic services to the most vulnerable, in particular women and children.

Action Against Hunger asks the public and journalists to respect the dignity and privacy of the person by refraining from sharing images or videos that may circulate on the Internet.

Action Against Hunger has no further comments at this stage.

STORIES FROM THE FIELD: A WOMAN’S INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT FELLOW EVACUEES

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Malou Mendoza-Mamerto is an evacuee residing in the improvised evacuation center at Barangay Poblacion in Talisay, Batangas. She stepped up and volunteered to manage the 150 families staying in their camp. As a volunteer camp manager, Malou posted a call for help on social media to raise awareness on their current situation to potential donors. Because of her initiative, their camp received several donations and even temporary shelters built to house pregnant and lactating women, children, senior citizens, and differently-abled individuals. As the camp leader, Malou takes initiative in referring her fellow evacuees to nearby health centers and clinics in case they need medical assistance.

Malou used to live in Pulo, Talisay, Batangas with her husband and three kids prior to the eruption of the Taal Volcano. She worked as a vendor and often made a living out of the thriving tourism in the area. Now, they are living in an improvised evacuation center in Poblacion, Talisay, Batangas with no stable source of income. She mentions that their current situation in the camp is quite difficult especially for the women in terms of privacy in sanitation facilities, but she says that everyone eventually helps each other out.

As a mother, Malou also worries that she cannot give the same amount of time and attention she gives to her children prior their evacuation especially since the situation has urged Malou to have two of her children stay with their relatives for the mean time. “As much as I would like to look for a job so that we can have some income and I could provide my children’s needs, it’s hard,” she said, explaining that the entire camp’s needs have kept her preoccupied.

Malou’s family is one of the 2,697 families who received emergency humanitarian WASH assistance from Action Against Hunger through the funding of the Spanish Agency for International Development (AECID). Food packs and hygiene kits were also provided to 801 individuals through the support of Grab Philippines.

The Taal Volcano is the second most active volcano in the Philippines. On the afternoon of January 12, 2020, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) detected increasing activity of the Taal Volcano causing heavy ashfall, volcanic tremors and lightning, and lava fountains. This affected approximately 468,000 people. Our Mission Emergency Response Team (MERT) was immediately on the ground on January 15 to conduct an assessment in Batangas province to assess the immediate needs of evacuees.

OMPONG LEAVES TRAIL OF DEVASTATION

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In the morning of September 15, Sinamar’s home in Barangay Camp 3 of Tuba, Benguet was caught in a landslide due to Typhoon Ompong. Sinamar, her husband Dennis, their 6-year-old son and other relatives managed to safely evacuate the area. Unfortunately, they also lost a family member as Dennis’ aunt was initially trapped under the eroded soil that buried her home. Four months after their ordeal, Sinamar and her family were left without a home and had to temporarily reside in the evacuation center located at their Barangay’s elementary school.    “We couldn’t pass through the main road because it was already eroded by then, so we climbed through the mountain despite the landslide. When we got to the hospital, we stayed there for a week because the children were traumatized,” recalled Sinamar.

Fifty-five-year-old Editha had a similar experience as she, her husband Philip, and their 3 youngest children had to leave their home after the typhoon left damages to their area. They, along with several other families, were no longer allowed to return to their home in Barangay Gumatdang, Itogon, Benguet after it was categorized as part of the danger zone. This left them no choice but to rent a house nearby at ₱3,000 per month. Before Ompong, Philip used to have a stable income by working in the mines. Since the mines needed to be closed for safety purposes, for the time being he creates soft reed brooms which Editha sells in the city. Editha also takes laundry and cleaning jobs as added income. “I hope there won’t be another typhoon like Ompong. Right now, I just wish we’ll be able to go back to our old home so that we won’t have to pay monthly rent,” said Editha.

Editha shares her story how they had to evacuate from their home after a landslide occurred in their neighborhood due to Ompong.

Typhoon Ompong, internationally referred to as Mangkhut, made landfall on September 15, 2018 as a category 4 typhoon with sustained wind speeds of over 200 km/h and gusts of up to over 300 km/h.  The large diameter of the typhoon, close to 900 km, affected Regions I, II, III, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), IV-A, IV-B and Metro Manila. Damages to infrastructure and agricultural resulted to an estimated 33.9 Billion Pesos – the 4th costliest typhoon in Philippine history.

The families of Sinamar and Editha including more than 2.14 Million individuals were affected by the typhoon. The landslides proved fatal for families in Benguet, with a total of 71 deaths and 50 injuries confirmed by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Action Against Hunger’s Mission Emergency Response Team were on the ground immediately after Typhoon Ompong made landfall and assessed the humanitarian needs of the affected communities in Benguet from September 15 to 20 and have since provided necessary interventions thereafter since provided necessary interventions. Sinamar and Editha’s families were some of the beneficiaries that were given hygiene kits and financial aid as part of Action Against Hunger’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and food security, & livelihood (FSL) projects funded by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), European Union – Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). ●

 

CLASHES CAUSE MORE THAN 46,000 DISPLACED IN MAGUINDANAO

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The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that 46,360 people have been displaced in Maguindanao since March 2019 because of the renewed armed conflict between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and a faction of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the interior areas of the SPMS box (Salibu, Pagatin, Mamasapano and Shariff Aguak).

The SPMS box and the surrounding municipalities have seen continuous hostilities between government forces and rebel groups in the past several years, causing repeated displacement of the same communities in the area.

(Photo by Mhods Suga for Action Against Hunger)

17% of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) live with relatives while 83% are staying in evacuation centers scattered across the area.

“Living conditions are difficult for those in evacuation centers due to inadequate sleeping quarters that offer limited protection from the elements, inefficient cooking areas, limited access to water and sanitary facilities,” said William Baang, former Head of Base for Action Against Hunger’s office in Cotabato. “These variables increase the likelihood of diseases spreading, so it is important that people are given the necessary tools and training to stay hygienic.”

Action Against Hunger conducted hygiene and sanitary promotion sessions along with providing emergency nonfood items and hygiene kits to 600 households in Datu Salibu and Shariff Saydona Mustapha. ●

LIFE AFTER THE SIEGE – MARAWI EMERGENCY RESPONSE

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Rohaima & Usman Bungkas had a general merchandise store in the commercial district of Marawi. After being displaced for almost a year following the Marawi siege, the family came back to find their store destroyed. With four teenage children to take care of, the couple needed an income source.

The Palaso family had similar struggles. Fatima Palaso, her husband Arman, and 5 children found refuge from the violence in the nearby town of Balindong.  Her family’s only source of income was Arman’s livelihood as a driver-for-hire – not enough for the household.  With only a thousand-peso-capital, Fatima decided to open a small store to augment their income.

As part of the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Livelihood Restoration Project implemented by Action Against Hunger, Fatima, Rohaima and Usman were some of the beneficiaries who attended a series of financial management orientations and received a cash grant of ₱10,000.

Rohaima and Usman opened a small eatery in Barangay Luksadato which now earns ₱11,500 per month. “I am very happy for the support I received to put up my eatery. If not for this, my family would not have any income at all. I am very grateful,” said Rohaima.

Rohaima and Usman hapilly accommodate a customer buying a meal from their eatery

 

Fatima on the other hand used the grant as additional capital. Her store now earns ₱ 8,000 net income monthly. “The cash grant is a big help for my family because my store is getting bigger.  I now have money for the daily school expenses of my children.” She is positive that her store’s success helped them overcome the initial hardships they endured when they fled Marawi. ●

CONSTANT DISPLACEMENT – MAGUINDANAO EMERGENCY RESPONSE

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Kautin Bano, his wife and children, had to leave their home in Barangay Pandi, Datu Salibo on March 11, 2019, Maguindanao due to the airstrikes that occurred in Barangay Inaladan, Shariff Saydona.

“We were all panicking and we didn’t know what to do at the time that airstrikes started,” recalled Kautin. “We left around 6 in the morning and evacuated to the nearest health center. When we got there, we had no choice but to wait and observe.”

This was not the first time that Kautin and his family were forced to leave their home. During the 1980s, they had to evacuate several times due to a conflict that started with a personal grudge between powerful families. In 2000, they went through a long evacuation process because of the all-out-war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao. Eight years after, Kautin’s family were part of the 390,000 people displaced when the renewed fighting took place in October 2008 after the drafting of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD).

This time around, Kautin’s family face the same challenges they experienced as frequent evacuees. He explained how difficult their situation was due to the limited supply of clean water. They had to wait for a month until the barangay was able to provide them access to potable water. As a farmer and a fisherman, Kautin’s source of income was put on hold. “We couldn’t go back to our livelihoods because of the conflict in the area,” he explained.

Kautin and his family have experienced the struggle of leaving their home ang setting aside their livelihood for the past three decades. Until this day, he still worries and fears for that time that they would be forced to evacuate again due to another conflict.

Kautin’s family was one of the six hundred families that received non-food items (NFI) and hygiene kits and received training on hygiene and sanitation from Action Against Hunger’s emergency response funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) of United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID). ●

237,000 PEOPLE STILL DISPLACED FROM MARAWI

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One year after the Siege of Marawi started on May 23, 2017, an estimated 237,000 people are still displaced. While an estimated 164,000 people have returned to the city, “ground zero” or the site where the intense fighting occurred still remains closed.

The displaced population, many of which are suffering from psychological stress, are hardly receiving support from the international community. “We are talking about an intense unprecedented siege in the country that lasted five months that turned Marawi into a ghost town,” said Javad Amoozegar, former Country Director of Action Against Hunger Philippines, who led the emergency response projects when the armed conflict started. “Although the battle officially ended on October 23, 2017, seven months later the level of destruction made it impossible to return to ground zero and 237,000 displaced persons (an estimated 360,000 people initially left the city) still live in settlements or in host communities that can barely cover their basic needs: they depend on food aid and water purchased from private suppliers or supplied in tankers,” explained Benedetta Lettera, Desk Officer for Action Against Hunger Philippines.

“The delicate situation was further exacerbated when Tropical Storm Vinta made landfall in the areas where the evacuees were staying on December 22, affecting 175,000 people,” added Amoozegar. Lettera also mentioned that many farmers or people with peri-urban orchards were displaced, losing their livelihoods and source of food. “The siege completely broke the market dynamics: Marawi was the main commercial center and supplier of goods to the river communities of Lake Lanao. The economic impact of the armed conflict was that it completely destroyed trade,” she explained. Amoozegar warns of the risk of radicalization among the young people: “In the context of extreme poverty, they will find that joining jihadist groups to be an easy option. What happened in Marawi could resurface at any time or anywhere in the island of Mindanao. ●

TASK FORCE BANGON MARAWI AWARDS ACTION AGAINST HUNGER

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MARAWI CITY – Action Against Hunger Philippine Mission’s humanitarian efforts in response to the Marawi Siege was recognized during the closing ceremonies of Marawi Week of Peace, a week-long commemoration of heroism and unity during the conflict initiated on May 24, 2018 by Task Force Bangon Marawi, its member line agencies, and local government units.

The Iligan Base Team, headed by Ivan Ledesma, received a plaque of appreciation from Retired Maj. Gen. Delfin Lorenzana, Secretary of National Defense, and Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, Jr., AFP Chief of Staff. Action Against Hunger was the only International Non-Government Organization to receive the Task Force Bangon Marawi award. ●

KEEPING THE SCHOOL CLEAN

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On May 23, 2017, conflict broke out in Marawi City between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and armed fighters from two ISIL-affiliated groups – Abu Sayyaf and the Maute. This led to a 5-month siege that destroyed most of the city’s central commercial district and forced 350,000 people to evacuate their homes. 5% of the evacuees stayed in evacuation centers while 95% choose to stay with relatives and friends in nearby communities.

The host communities where the evacuees stayed were caught unprepared with the massive influx of people. Food, health, water, sanitation and other basic services for the displaced population were severely compromised. Action Against Hunger personnel were on the ground two days after the conflict started to assess the situation and determine the urgent humanitarian needs of the affected population. Emergency Response projects in Food & Nutrition, Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Food Security and Livelihoods, and Shelter started on June 1, 2017 and continues to this day.

These are the voices of the people who endured the Siege of Marawi through resilience and determination.

 

Built in 1965 for the education of children of farming families from the remote areas of Pantao Ragat, the Aloon Elementary School’s problems on water, sanitation and hygiene were as old as the school.

Norphia M. Ombawa, 33, was a student from the school and now teaches there.  She observed that her pupils are experiencing the same situation she had as an elementary student before. There were no water facilities in the campus because the water tank for rainwater storage was already rotting in rust with age.  They were using plastic containers to catch water when it rains. During the dry season, they had to fetch water from a spring which was a distance from their school.

“Our toilet which was made of wood collapsed a few years back so we didn’t have one to use. Our pupils would go under the trees at the back of the school to urinate and sometimes, to defecate”, she said.

With the line of trees just a few meters from their classroom, sometimes the smell of feces would go through their windows and distract their classes. Some of her pupils would also smell bad throughout the day because of being improperly washed. She worried that their exposure to germs would get them sick.

The local government responded to the water concern by connecting the school’s pipes to the water storage facility in the Mosque across the street.  But, the lack of a toilet for the students to use was still a problem and open defecation continued.

This situation became more difficult when several families displaced due to the Marawi Conflict took refuge in their village on May 2017. The number of pupils spiked up with children from the displaced population enrolling at the school.  They went back to having less water, if none at all because the Mosque’s water tank was also shared with the refugees.

So when the Action Against Hunger tracked the displacement of children in the village, they also heard the concerns of the teachers on the school’s lack of toilet and their own water access facilities.

Action Against Hunger’s mobile team was already working in the area answering the needs of the displaced population and got word of the school’s concern. With the funding from the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, the organization built a tap stand for handwashing, tooth brushing and drinking water. A two-door concrete toilet was also constructed within the school grounds.

Action Against Hunger personnel held a series of hygiene promotion sessions to the students, teaching them the importance of proper sanitation & hygiene to avoid the spread of diseases.  These sessions also trained them on the proper way to hand wash and brush their teeth. After these sessions, each student was given a hygiene kit that contained soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste and towels that they could use every day in school and at home.

Norphia integrated the messages and techniques from these sessions in her classes and continues to remind them about the importance of being clean and keeping the surroundings clean as well.

“They became conscious on their hygiene and the cleanliness of the school. Their parents also told me that they brought this practice at home”, she shared.  ●

VINTA’S AFTERMARTH

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The rain brought by tropical storm Vinta started to trickle over the village of Lininding in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur on the morning of December 23, 2017. Casan Panggaga, 41, hurried to get the rice grains that he laid to dry outside their house. It was when he was putting them in a sack that he heard the sound of heavy rain and raging water coming from a distance.

“I turned around and saw the water from the farthest part of the river swelled and was rushing towards our village. I ran back to the house while shouting for my wife to get the children out,” Casan shared.

He, his wife and two children took to the hills just as the water swallowed some of the houses along the riverside. From their elevated area, they saw their house slowly being uprooted by the strong currents until it finally drifted downstream towards the river. All of their belongings were swept away including the sacks of rice they recently harvested. Water overflowed from the dikes and filled their rice fields.

When the rain and the flood subsided, Casan saw the damage the typhoon caused to his livelihood: eroded sand, soil, rocks and debris buried the dikes and rice fields.

“It would take months of hard work to make it suitable for farming again. But I couldn’t start working because all my tools were lost to the flood,” he said.

Farming was not only his source of income, it also provided them their daily sustenance. All the harvested rice that would get them through the planting season was gone. They mostly relied on relief from the government during the aftermath of the tragedy.

Action Against Hunger mobile teams were on the ground conducting an assessment of the needs of the population affected by the typhoon within 24 hours.  With funding support from START FUND, the organization assisted Casan and other families from his community through the distribution of Temporary Shelter Kits for use in repairing and even rebuilding their houses. A kit contains construction materials for temporary shelter: tarpaulin, tie wire, rope, and nails.  It also comes along with construction tools: a hammer, a shovel & a saw.

Immediately after rebuilding their house, Casan and his son worked on their farm using the shovels to dig up and clear the mud from the rice fields. As soon as the mud is cleared, they will be working with other farmers to rebuild the dikes so that they could get water flowing from the river to their fields.

“We still need new plows to prepare the soil for planting. But, it’s not too difficult to start farming again because we have new tools now”, he shared.●