Several Convoy of Hope staff and local volunteers line both sides of what looks to be a scuba-diving and sight-seeing boat as we bob across crystal clear water towards a white-sand beach scattered with destroyed boats, halved palm trees and remnants of homes. The contrasted scene in front of us is the tiny island of Malapascua only days after Typhoon Haiyan destroyed nearly every home on the island of about 5,000 people.
Convoy of Hope has a Children’s Feeding initiative program center on Malapasuca that feeds children throughout the week. As we watched Typhoon Haiyan approach the Philippines, we were also coordinating with in-country staff to stage relief supplies prior to the storm.
A board not much wider than my size-12 hiking sandals provides a way off the boat. Carrying with us water filtration units for installation at our children’s feeding location we meander through debris fields strewn with piles of what used to be homes to locals who are mostly fishermen and boatmen.
Roger, a local pastor and coordinator of our relief distributions on the island, beams with a hopeful pride as he retells the story of several families who were spared from the storm because they sheltered in his church.
Sitting under a nearby make-shift shelter of coconut lumber and tarps is Grace. When asked if this is her home, she kindly smiles and replies, “I have no more house, nothing is left. Only the floor.”
A mother of three children who are playing around us, Grace explains to me that she is pregnant with her fourth and she doesn’t know how her family will recover from Typhoon Haiyan.
Thankfully, Grace and her family were not in their home when it was destroyed. They are one of the families that found refuge at our Children’s Feeding program center. Since the typhoon, Convoy of Hope has provided additional meals for families like Grace’s, as well as water filtration units, building materials, fishing nets, and other vital relief supplies to help Filipinos get back to their livelihood.
In addition, Grace’s children are enrolled in Convoy of Hope’s Children’s Feeding initiative. It’s a long road for families like Grace’s who have lost their homes and their livelihood, but there is hope.
