As has been my custom in past, I will keep my journal in email and share it to keep others in the loop. If you don’t appreciate a real time brain dump, please write back and I will take you off the list.

Arrived in manila with three volunteers and donor funds to put to productive use.

We visited the US consulate where we met Mohammed Khan, Disaster Assistance and Reconstruction Manager for USAID. He updated us on where things are at. The described the disaster as the worst ever – says there has really never been anything like it – they had NO warning. 15 million affected people, 4 million people displaced (204,000 are still living in 1000 shelters), 1.2 million damaged houses, over 5,600 reported dead, 26,000 injured, 1,761 missing and 70% of school are damaged, 1.2 million homes. Some basic services have been restored at least locally and the NGOs are starting to move on to prep for the next disaster, but he describes this as some of the most crucial time because their departure would leave the needy people in a dire straights.

He says we may find a place to stay but should plan on bringing all our rations because food is literally that scarce. He did not give us a straight answer on whether we needed a guard. He can become Mohammed.

We met with his Boss, Alan Dwyer, the DART lead for the country.

Next we did some logistical stuff to cash some money and get ourselves some Filipino cell phones which took way too much time and we met Manny Dizon for Dinner at his house.

Manny and his wife Ina were great hosts and over Dinner her told us all the stories he has heard in the last weeks. He points out that while Tacloban was hard hit, there are many smaller communities that were hit harder but are not being focused on and he thinks there may be opportunity to work with a single smaller area (which had been our plan) rather than a larger community where our small donations could get lost. In fact he has gotten us lodging in a hospital ward in Tacloban and the sisters of that facility which has stayed open throughout the emergency while not charging any patients. The Benedictine sisters who run the hospital are running out of meds and since they are not charging they have no money to pay for new meds and this seemed like a very good mission – we can pick up needed meds in Cebu and transport them to Tacloban.

After a breakfast meeting with the Disaster Area Director of USAID tomorrow we will head for the plane to Cebu where we will meet Manny’s brother and get the perspective from Cebu. We will arrange the car we have hired and our security to take us there and then will have a full night on the train to rest. Security is costing us $60 per day plus food and lodging. Manny is adamant we need it but others we spoke to say it may be overkill. After a flight at noon, we will spend the afternoon getting an update from the Cebu perspective since Cebu was much closer to the eye of the storm. I will also meet with an old friend from when I was here 30 years ago who still lives in the area, we will also get our own food and water rations since we need to be self sufficient when we arrive. Finally we will go to a hospital supply shop and get medicines requested by the Ormoc Hospital so we can hand deliver the meds they need so badly. Much of the day on the 7th will be spent on a ferry getting to Ormoc.

In Ormoc we will meet with the Assistant District Governor who will show us around and introduce us to the most productive charities. Ormoc is one of the more concerning areas – primarily agricultural, they don’t know how they will re-employ their people. For example thousands of coconut trees were snapped in half and these trees take 7 years to re-grow – the industry that depends on them becomes unemployed with no prospects for rehire.

Finally we will go by car to Tacloban and the cities nearby that were hardest hit by the storm. Here we will stay in the hospital and deliver the medicine, but there is also enough despair and misery to go way around.

I apologize if there are typos but I have not slept much since midnight Tuesday and I have fallen asleep a few times drafting this.