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“Providing a Roof” and More to Communities Affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines: the Médecins Sans Frontières Experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2016

Engy Ali ,
Marie-Christine Ferir ,
Tony Reid ,
Henry Gray ,
Wilma Van Den Boogaard ,
Christopher Gonzales  and
Rony Zachariah
Engy Ali*
Affiliation:
Médecins Sans Frontières – Operational Centre Brussels, Medical Department, Operational Research Unit (LuxOR), Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Marie-Christine Ferir
Affiliation:
Médecins Sans Frontières – Operational Centre Brussels, Medical Department, Emergency Unit, Brussels, Belgium
Tony Reid
Affiliation:
Médecins Sans Frontières – Operational Centre Brussels, Medical Department, Operational Research Unit (LuxOR), Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Henry Gray
Affiliation:
Médecins Sans Frontières – Operational Centre Brussels, Medical Department, Emergency Unit, Brussels, Belgium
Wilma Van Den Boogaard
Affiliation:
Médecins Sans Frontières – Operational Centre Brussels, Medical Department, Operational Research Unit (LuxOR), Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Christopher Gonzales
Affiliation:
Municipality of Guiuan, Guiuan, Eastern Samar Island, Philippines
Rony Zachariah
Affiliation:
Médecins Sans Frontières – Operational Centre Brussels, Medical Department, Operational Research Unit (LuxOR), Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Engy Ali, Médecins Sans Frontières, Luxembourg, 68 Rue de Gasperich, L-1617, Luxembourg (e-mail: [email protected]).
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Abstract

Objectives

Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in November 2013 and left a trail of destruction. As part of its emergency response, Médecins Sans Frontières distributed materials for reconstructing houses and boats as standardized kits to be shared between households. Community engagement was sought and communities were empowered in deciding how to make the distributions. We aimed to answer, Was this effective and what lessons were learned?

Methods

A cross-sectional survey using a semi-structured questionnaire was conducted in May 2014 and included all community leaders and 269 households in 22 barangays (community administrative areas).

Results

All houses were affected by the typhoon, of which 182 (68%) were totally damaged. All households reported having received and used the housing material. However, in 238 (88%) house repair was incomplete because the materials provided were insufficient or inappropriate for the required repairs.

Conclusion

This experience of emergency mass distribution of reconstruction or repair materials of houses and boats led by the local community was encouraging. The use of “standardized kits” resulted in equity issues, because households were subjected to variable degrees of damage. A possible way out is to follow up the emergency distribution with a needs assessment and a tailored distribution. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:285–289)

Keywords

typhoonsheltercommunity empowermentPhilippines
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , June 2017 , pp. 285 - 289
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2016 

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References

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