“Typhoon Yolanda destroyed my two pump boats. Can you give me one so I can start earning my livelihood?”
“Typhoon Yolanda destroyed my two pump boats. Can you give me one so I can start earning my livelihood?”
It is the first thing that 60-year-old fisher Gerardo Yapi said to Oxfam’s Rapid Assessment Team when we met in Hernani Village, Eastern Samar province a few days after Typhoon Yolanda struck which almost wiped out this fishing community.
Aside from immediate needs including food and drinking water, the boat is the most important thing for the family to rebuild their lives as soon as possible. The father of four said he had just finished building a temporary shelter for his family by using scrap materials from destroyed houses and structures that were scattering all over. The shelter was made of iron sheets and lumber.
In the midst of this disaster, the Yapi family is just one of more than 200 families affected by Typhoon Yolanda in the village who are trying to get their lives back. They said they wanted to return to fishing and farming activities as soon as possible to bring income to their families.
The Oxfam team distributed fresh water to 200 families in the village. Oxfam is currently assessing long term livelihoods programming in the area to help people like Gerado and his family get back on their feet.
Photo: Fisher Gerardo Yapi (male) is posing with his wife and children in the middle of what used to be their home in Brgy. (Village) Botang, one of many coastal communities devastated by Typhoon Haiyan on November 8.
