11/21/13

Haiyan bringing families together

Paolo Garcia and team rebuilding Haiyan-damaged homes in Ormoc with tarpaulins

Photo: Christina Garcia-Frasco

I am proud of my mother, Isabel Alega Garcia, who rallied her friends and family immediately after Haiyan after had hit to provide tarps for families who have lost their roofs and homes. So far, she has been able to provide 400 families with tarps to shelter their homes in Ormoc. She had dreamed to raise enough to shelter 1,000 families, but is now ordering an additional 1,500 tarps from friends' donations for families in Samar, Calbayog, and Palawan. I am equally proud of my siblings who have joined my mother in her effort as well.

I am proud of my 8-year old daughter, Laela Eliana Garcia, who had given most of her life savings to provide shelter for two families. She inspires me, constantly. She shows others that a little does go a long way.

I am proud of my cousins, Paolo Garcia and Christina Garcia Frasco who have been on the ground distributing tarps, food, water, medicine, and immediate needs to Haiyan survivors in Ormoc and neighboring areas.

I have grandparents, uncles, aunts, and many other cousins who are on the ground helping Filipinos rebuild their lives. I feel extremely blessed to be in a family who have big hearts and have been tirelessly dedicating what they can to help others in need at this critical time.

11/19/13

My first Huffington Post article: The World Cries With the Philippines

Esperanza Garcia

Graduate of Columbia University's Sustainability Management Program

GET UPDATES FROM ESPERANZA GARCIA

The World Cries With the Philippines

Posted: 11/14/2013 2:36 pm

Philippines, Bundles Of Joy, Cebu, Haiyan, Haiyan Philippines, Millennial Impact, Millennials, Typhoon Haiyan, The Philippines, Typhoon, Typhoon Haiyan, Impact News

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I was born and raised in Cebu, one of the regions that have been hit by Typhoon Haiyan. My heart has been aching since I've heard that my country was going to be hit by Haiyan and when I heard of casualties in Tacloban, with a government official reporting of 10,000 people to have died in that region alone, it was what triggered me to break down and cry. I couldn't stop my tears. As I was reading my Facebook newsfeed and receiving calls and texts from friends and family, it showed me that the rest of the world was crying for my country too.

Typhoon Haiyan is known as the most intense tropical cyclone recorded in history and the strongest to have ever hit land. It's impact has affected nine million people, leaving over 600,000 homeless, many others going without food and clean water for days, and children getting sick, without the medicine to alleviate their sickness. The death toll is rising by the minute, the power lines are down -- and could be down for months, and the roads are impassable. It's a desperate situation. With a population of over 85 million, spread over 7,100 islands, it is very difficult to get aid to the Central region which have been impacted most. Our friends on the ground distributing the relief goods are reporting back to us on the urgency of getting the relief goods out to the survivors and that the ones they are distributing doesn't match the needs. It's a desperate situation.

The damage of Haiyan is yet unknown. What we do know is that Haiyan got so strong due to the warming ocean temperatures. "We are putting 90 million tons of global warming pollution into the atmosphere everyday -- equivalent to 400,000 hiroshima atomic bombs going off every 24 hours," Al Gore explains in an interview. "Tropical cyclones are basically giant heat engines," weather expert Brian Mcnoldy describes. The accumulated climate change pollution caused by human activities traps extra heat and as the oceans warm with climate change, there is extra energy in the system. "Storms may not be increasing in frequency but Pacific ocean waters are warming faster than expected, and there is a broad scientific consensus that typhoons are now increasing in strength," John Vidal, environmental expert explains.

The Philippines is the third most vulnerable country to climate change impacts and the number one country in the world for deaths caused by natural disasters. We also are hit with an average of 20 typhoons annually. Super Typhoon Haiyan moved twice as fast as Typhoon Bopha last December -- where 1,900 died and leaving 1.2 million people displaced. Typhoon Bopha was the costliest natural disaster in Philippines history -- costing $1 billion in damages.

Like all other developing countries, the Philippines plays a minor role in global carbon emissions (Philippines contributes to 0.28 percent of carbon dioxide emissions while the top 10 countries in the world emit 67.07 percent of the world total) and yet suffers an inordinately higher cost. "We lose five percent of our of our economy every year to storms," Philippine climate change commissioner, Naderev Sano, says.

Though our efforts are not enough in building resilient and adaptation infrastructures enabling us to withstand the natural disasters that hit us, the Philippines has significant renewable energy resources. Nearly 39 percent of the Philippines' energy requirements are from renewable sources. In installed renewable energy capacity, Philippines is seventh in Asia and 33rd globally. The country is the second largest geothermal power producer in the world, the 1.65 MW turbines Bangui Bay Wind farm is Southeast Asia's first and largest wind farm, the 1 MW PV solar plant in Cagayan Oro is the first utility-scale PV plant in Southeast Asia. Philippines has also committed to an ambitious renewable energy target of 50 percent under its Renewable Energy Act by 2030. This Act is highly championed by experts as the best renewable energy law crafted in Asia. This goes to show that as a developing country, we are contributing to the dire solutions that this world needs. However, we certainly do not have enough resources to be able to afford in building resilient infrastructures and adaptation measures to withstand climate catastrophes that are hitting us continuously. What gives me hope are the Filipino people. We have resiliency in our people, and that is what makes our country resilient.

As a response to the Typhoon, my friends and I collaborated our efforts and created the "Bundles of Joy and Letters of Hope" project the day after Haiyan had hit. We are a group of young women mobilizing at a grassroots level to deliver essential supplies to the Haiyan survivors in desperate need. We only work with communities that are familiar to us, and the areas that has not already been reached by other relief operations based on the Inventory of Disaster Relief Efforts by Ramon Aboitiz Foundation (RAFI).

It has been empowering to see that since we've launched Bundles of Joy, we've received donations from around the world, enough to provide a few hundred Bundles of Joy to Typhoon victims in five regions and we've received interest from people globally to volunteer with us. We've received letters of hope from people all over the world who would like to show solidarity to the Typhoon Haiyan survivors. Craig Hazeldene from Tasmania, Australia writes:

Please keep your faith and know that the world outside your own is working hard to ensure you receive the water, food, medicines and essential services you so desperately need. The world cries with you, I cry with you, but together, with the amazing spirit of the Filipinos we will overcome, you will triumph over adversity as you have so often in the past.

These beautiful letters from all over the world are sent with our Bundles of Joy to uplift the spirits of Haiyan survivors. There are also many international NGOs on the ground like Red Cross, Save the Children, Gawad Kalinga, ShelterBox, who are working on immediate and long term efforts. I urge you to support them as help is needed urgently -- not tomorrow, but now.

Typhoon Haiyan may have been one of the strongest typhoons to hit land in history, but I am convinced that the worst has yet to come. It is unfortunate that hundreds and thousands of lives will have to be spared until the world realizes just how dire our situation is. More lives will be lost, more tears will shed and more hearts will have to break if we don't act now.

ELLE Magazine: Young Women Activists Band Together to Fight Typhoon Haiyan With 'Bundles of Joy'

Reposting an article written by Kristian Rodulfo of Elle Magazine on Bundles of Joy and Letters of Hope.

Young Women Activists Band Together to Fight Typhoon Haiyan With 'Bundles of Joy'

NOVEMBER 18 5:30 PM by KRISTINA RODULFO

Photo: Bundles of Joy

A week has passed since Typhoon Haiyan—the strongest storm to ever hit land—touched down in the Philippines. And each day since has revealed deeper devastation. Across the country's 7,100 islands, 9 million people have been affected, 1.9 million have been left homeless, and 3,976 (out of a feared figure of 10,000) are dead. Before and after images of completely flattened towns and piles of nameless bodies, still unmoved, are just some of the scenes that have spurred international relief efforts to swiftly organize help. Unfortunately, there are remote places that fall behind when NGOs try coming to the rescue. Enter: Bundles of Joy and Letters of Hope, a grassroots organization started by threeyoung female activists, providing on-the-ground aid each day.

"These people have lost everything in their lives," Esperanza Garcia, a Bundles of Joy team member and co-founder of the Philippine Youth Climate Movement and International Youth Council, told ELLE.com. "Not only have they lost their homes and their families, but they've also lost a means for them to survive. They have no boats, no resources, and power lines will be down for months. They're losing their livelihood." Bundles of Joy has targeted affected areas surrounding the core of damage in Philippines' central islands: Malapascua, Camotes Islands, Bantayan Islands, Tacloban City, and Ormoc. A Bundles of Joy visit to Ormoc on the island of Leyte alone revealed 95% of homes have been destroyed and zero relief goods have reached the town.

Photo: Courtesy of Esperanza Garcia

Garcia, based in the U.S., is joined by fellow activists stationed on site: Anna Oposa, co-founder of Save Philippine Seas, and Anya Lim, who has worked for UNICEF Philippines and World Vision Australia and Cebu. Immediately following the storm the three joined forces to form Bundles of Joy and in a week have garnered a rapidly growing social media following and enough donations to deploy 600 Bundles of Joy in only 48 hours. The entire group is bolstered by international volunteers from Mexico to Australia—all women—formed from a network of friends using the immediacy of Facebook outreach.

Each "bundle," formed from every $10 donation, includes food, water, clothing, vitamins, and a flashlight gathered from local suppliers. Something unique about "Bundles of Joy" is that donations are not anonymous monetary gifts. Each contains "Letters of Hope," which are uplifting personal messages of solidarity sent from around the world, as far as Nigeria to Brazil.

Locals receiving relief goods; Photo: Courtesy of Bundles of Joy

"The idea is that if someone in the Philippines reads a letter from someone in Australia saying 'We're here for you and we care' we can instill a hopeful vigor, especially from young people who can't provide monetary support but want to contribute," Garcia said. Oposa, who just returned from dropping off goods on the island Malapascua, added, "It's not just homes that were destroyed—spirits were too. Words of encouragement are so important, and all the relief efforts seem to be forgetting it." She continued, "People are emotional and traumatized! Reading some of the letters made me cry, so, what more for the people who have lost everything?" Oposa said recepients of the bundles were excited to find the notes, and even read them aloud to each other.

Damage in Malapascua; Photo: Courtesy of Bundles of Joy

The Philippines is no stranger to natural disasters. Its tropical locale in the Pacific Ocean unfortunately makes it susceptible to around 20 typhoons annually—Haiyan was the 24th in 2013. Garcia, who has also worked in the Philippine Senate Climate Change Committee, stresses that climate change should be at the forefront of our minds. "We are the number one country in the world who has the most deaths annually through natural disasters," she said. "Even if people didn't know the Philippines until now, you have to understand that this [disaster] could happen to you." She called out anthropogenic pollution as criminal, explaining that storms increase in strength as a result of having more heat matter pushed into the atmosphere. According to her research from the UN, the Philippines accounts for only 0.28% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions (by comparison, the U.S. and China, combined, emit over 40%) yet takes the toll.

Photo: Courtesy of Anna Oposa

While immediate relief is necessary, the big picture warrants sustainable solutions. "What I wish people knew is that it takes more than canned goods to rebuild communities," Oposa said. "My personal advocacy will be to rebuild the school and undertake efforts to rebuild their spirits as well, through art workshops and livelihood programs." Garcia proposed investing in stronger infrastructures, particularly schools, for long-term benefit, "[We need to] build resilient schools because they have been used as emergency shelters, but have also become a place for children to become educated," she said.

Relief goods arriving via boat; Photo: Courtesy of Bundles of Joy

For now, the two are continuing to grow Bundles of Joy and pushing international youth to spread the message. Their volunteers in Australia just launched "Lines of Hope"—an initiative encouraging people around the globe to do something as simple as taking selfies with a note and hashtags—#PHyouarenotalone, #linesofhope, and #ReliefPHbundlesofjoy—to build awareness. Join and take action—as Garcia reasoned it best in an online post, "It is unfortunate that hundreds and thousands of lives will have to be [lost] until the world realizes just how dire our situation is. More lives will be lost, more tears will [be] shed, and more hearts will ... break if we don't act now."

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