I have arrived in Cebu City, which from the outside seems to be a normal city in the Philippines. Only when you look closely will you see people in trucks and vans filled with bottled water, food and other supplies. The airport looks like a parking lot for Boeing 747 cargo planes, I counted at least 9 this morning when I arrived. I have met with Maartje Ruijgt, a Dutch resident of Cebu, who has been working with a team of people on getting supplies to Bantayan island. It seems that the situation there, as well as in the north of the island of Cebu, is getting better now that also Army convoys are getting through. Therefore, I have spent the afternoon looking at other places where aid may not yet be getting through easily. The island of Leyte (known mainly for the horrendous situation in Tacloban) is not an option, since the safety situation there is very poor and the US Military is starting operations there.mi have decided to focus on the island of Panay, which is towards the west of Cebu and Negros. 4 million people live on the island and it had been hit very severely, especially in the north and the west. Many fishing boats have been destroyed and aid is not coming in as much as in other places at the moment. One of Maartjes staff is from there and knows the situation and a lot of people there. Together with her I will fly to Ilo Ilo tomorrow, which is the only airport that is operating at the moment (Roxas and Kalibo are closed but may open later on, so for those coming over please check regularly). I will be joined by the first of many volunteers that have contacted me to join, Martin Koenen. The plan is to rent a couple of pickups, fill them up with drinking water, canned food, medicines, tents etc and drive north to Roxas City and Kalibo, after which we will drive to the west coast where we will try to reach Lipata, a port town. There, we will have access to a boat which has been made available by a generous donor, Gerry Lane, and we plan to then take stock and see how we can set up operations for the longer term in the region. Most likely we will be doing many shopping runs with the pickups and drop the goods in towns on the coast, after evaluating what is needed where. The boat we can use to reach islands off the coast, often the situation there is much worse than on the larger islands as they are completely reliant on the larger islands for supplies. The safety situation on Panay is said to be ok, but we will most likely get a police escort anyway. For free. Apparently corruption is a major issue and knowing who to deal with and who not will be a major factor in the coming weeks. Hence, I am again grateful for the many contacts I have been given on the ground as that will make things much easier for us. Phone and internet connectivity is not great on Panay so I am not sure when I can write to you again. I will do my best to get you a summary everyday. For those of you who want to get in touch, SMS to my local Philippine number may be best. The number is +63 9152191592. For those of you who have offered to come over: please do. It may be a good idea to operate in shifts rather than all be here at the same time. There is enough work to be done and we have raised enough money by now to make this go a long way, also making the impact more sustainable. If you decide to come, please SMS me on the Philippine number and we can coordinate. For the coming week, 3 or 4 more people would be quite good to have around. You can fly to Ilo Ilo via Manila and Cebu. When you come out, please bring (in no particular order): hand sanitizer, mosquito repellant, torch, sunglasses, cap, sturdy shoes/boots, Imodium, mask for face and nose, disinfectant cream, gauze, tape, sunscreen, extra batteries for your phone, a cheap old phone, poncho and make sure your ATM card works overseas and has a reasonably high limit on it. Feel free to keep spreading the word, thanks for all your support and encouragement. Arnout
Posted on: Fri, 15 Nov 2013 11:42:56 +0000
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