Our home province of Negros Occidental was hit by Typhoon Odette during the wee hours of December 17. Prior to that, it made landfall in Siargao Island in the evening of December 16 and continued to wreak havoc in many other provinces in its path.
Just few hours after storm had passed in Negros Occidental, the NVC Foundation team was out distributing Mingo Meals in areas which were already accessible. We were one of the earliest emergency relief responders.
As soon as more areas began to be cleared, the NVC Team would follow. We brought basic food supplies such as rice, noodles, canned food and water in addition to Mingo. Trucks are deployed daily to the hardest hit areas especially those which have not yet received help from either government or other non-government providers. For more efficiency, most of the aid is trucked in bulk from the NVC compound in Bacolod City. Upon arrival, volunteers on site help pack the goods into family size provisions.
The NVC Team continued to serve target areas even during Christmas and New Year’s day and all the other calendared holidays in between. To bring some holiday cheer to those affected by the storm, we had special celebrations for communities served on Christmas and New Year’s Day. Please check this page or our Facebook page to get regular updates on our emergency response,
Countless people have reached out to us wanting to help with our Typhoon Odette Emergency Response. While we will continue to provide RELIEF in the form of food and water, we’ve also begun accepting donations for the REBUILD phase. Through this, we will build simple housing structures for marginalized communities which lost their homes to the storm. We have also begun the RESTORE phase which aims to provide assistance towards the restoration of economic activity in communities.
If you would like to make a donation to our continued efforts to help typhoon survivors get back on their feet, you may send your donation through the following channels. We issue official receipts for donations so if you donate by Gcash or bank transfer, please send your transaction receipt to our FB Messenger or [email protected] so we can process your receipt. Thank you for your kindness and generosity!
1. Deposit or transfer to the following bank accounts. See details below.
2. Transfer from your e-wallet. See details below.
3. Donate online via paypal or credit card. Click here.
After our early response of providing survivors with food and water, we have moved on to helping them get back on their feet. Take a closer look at our Rebuild and Restore phases of our response to Super Typhoon Odette.
We prioritized those who were most in need and we determined that we would start REBUILDING in Sipalay. This was the area in Negros was most heavily hit by the storm. Strong wind and rain completely destroyed or at least partially damaged more than 13,000 homes.
For those whose homes were only partially damaged by the storm, we provided roof repair kits. And on January 17, we began building the first of 100 houses for in Sipalay.
We are working hand in hand with different partners on this. Volunteer architects provided the design. The City of Sipalay LGU determined the build sites, ensuring that the new homes will be built on safer grounds. Beneficiaries will be constructing their own homes under the supervision of the architects and with the assistance of carpenters from the LGU. We are grateful to Base Bahay Foundation for being the first to throw their hat into the REBUILD ring with us, and to Peace and Equity Foundation through SIFI and SIMAG Foundations for their added support.
This program aims to restore economic activity to communities. Our first RESTORE project is with the Talabahan Growers Association in the typhoon stricken town of Ilog. Thanks to a very generous donation from Havaianas Philippines, we have replaced the oyster growing chambers and boats which had been destroyed. We will also introduce the community to more updated oyster production technology. For our second RESTORE project, we rebuilt the vermished the Peace Pond Farmers.
To date we have assisted 87 families in agriculture, 108 families in aquaculture, and 9 families involved in baking, crafts and similar industries.
Families affected by the storm were given additional support in the form of educational assistance for their children. Face to face classes resumed for the first time in two years and students were in need of school supplies, school bags, uniforms and the like. This was a great help to the families still struggling to make ends meet as many had lost their means of livelihood.
We visited some of the Sipalay families in their new homes designed by volunteers from the United Architects of the Philippines. When we visited Johnboy and Emilyn, their four young children were fast asleep in their newer and much safer home. The family opted not to build the interior walls of this would-be 2-bedroom home yet. This way, it’s easier for them to watch over their brood.
Thanks to a message in our inbox, we were able to give Nanay Belinda some food. A kind soul offered to build Nanay Belinda a new home. Even when she was living in her makeshift home after the storm, Nanay Belinda always had a smile on her face. That smile is bigger and brighter now that she has a safe place to live in.
The image of 15-year old Warilyn pulling her school medals out from under the remains of her family home tugged at the heartstrings of a kind-hearted individual who offered to a new home for the family. With additional funds from the money saved from their catch, Warilyn’s parents were able to make the home even bigger and stronger.
We received a wonderful surprise in our inbox. Someone sent us these photos of her friend’s new home. This is the home of one of the recipients of the home repair kits from the Tanging Yaman Foundation. We are so happy that many people have new and safe homes to live in. And we are so honored that the Office of the Vice President chose our foundation to be its ground partners for this project. This home is located in Hda. Pangarap and indeed, the being blessed with a new home after your old one was destroyed in a storm is like a dream come true.
For many years, 35 ladies from a town in southern Negros Occidental used to stitch together nipa leaves to make roofing materials. This enabled them to help send their kids to school. Unfortunately they were financially and physically drained after Typhoon Odette and they had lost the resources to continue their business. Thankfully a kind donor stepped in to help them restart their business.
In January, Tatay Felipe whose roadside home had been ravaged by the storm, begged the NVC Team to snap photos of his home. He hoped that if someone saw the photos, they’d be moved to build him a new home. True enough, an interested party offered to build Tatay Felipe a new home. It took some time to find a safe location for this new home but we found one next to Tatay Felipe’s son’s home. Tatay Felipe now has a comfortable new home in a safe location.
We sent off a big batch of Mingo Meals for the children of Siargao Island. This huge donation was made possible my many kind people who literally took steps to help the kids. Through their #CASWalkForHope2022, students, families and staff members of Canadian American School raised enough to feed 400 children daily for two months. And participants of the #MikelLovinaJamborun2022 raced to raise a total of 85,439 Mingo Meals for the children on the island.
We checked up on the oyster growers in Ilog. The oysters are growing well. We are looking forward to their first harvest in September.
We had turned over funds to the Peace Pond Farmers so that they could repair and improve their vermished which Typhoon Odette had destroyed. To our surprise, not only did they build the vermished but they were also able to build a small seed factory next to it. This was thanks to their clever management of resources. The ceremonial turnover of the two structures took place on May 12.
We’re building back better in Sipalay. Thank you to all the private donors who donated to this cause and to the Tanging Yaman Foundation for collecting and turning over these funds. Thank you as well to the Office of the Vice President for trusting NVC Foundation to be their partners on the ground to implement this project. We would also like to thank the United Architects of the Philippines (Buglas South Chapter) for teaching the homeowners techniques on how to build more resilient structures.
Building of homes continues in Sipalay. Some families have already moved into their finished homes.
The sound of hammering is music to our ears! In various parts of Negros (Kabankalan, Ilog, Candoni, Sipalay, Hinobaan and Cauayan), 250 homes for Typhoon Odette survivors are rising. Thank you to Tanging Yaman Foundation and volunteer members of the United Architects of the Philippines for your generosity and assistance!
House building continues!
A New York-based clothing company that exports from the Philippines coursed a donation through NVC. They donated new underwear to 216 children in Hinobaan and Sipalay.
With guidance of volunteers from the United Architects of the Philippnes, 45 recipients of Shelter Starter Kits in Cauayan, Negros Occidental took a hands-on building workshop. Their home repair kits came from the Tanging Yaman Foundation. Previously, 50 recipients in Sipalay underwent the same seminar. Recipients in Hinobaan, Kabankalan, Candoni and Ilog are being scheduled for their workshops and turnover of supplies.
Families that received home repair kits from Tanging Yaman Foundation and training from the United Architects of the Philippines began repairing their homes.
Oyster production continues in Ilog.
A family works on baskets for chickens as part of their livelihood. We provided the materials as well as better tools (to make their production more efficient). By supporting livelihood, we help spur the economic recovery of the area.
The oyster farmers of Ilog prepare their oyster growing floaters.
The building of homes in Sipalay continues.
Before everyone parted ways, the Indigenous Peoples we served with food relief goods gratefully performed a dance number.
750 household members of the Ituman Magahat Bukidnon Tribe picked out what they needed from the goods donated by ABS-CBN Foundation.
Dr Jillian Lee, the Provincial Health Officer of Dinagat Islands and our partner on the ground, introduces more undernourished children to Mingo Meals.
We delivered building materials to Brgy. Riverside, Isabela, Negros Occidental. The Babaylanis Bukidnon tribespeople who love there can now begin to repair their damaged homes.
Construction of the first of the 100 homes for Sipalay is underway. For those whose homes were only partially damaged, we provided roof repair kits.
Our building of homes in Sipalay and work to restore livelihood in parts of Negros continues. We also sent a shipment of Mingo to Palawan. This will be distributed to those in need by our ground partner Mariglo Laririt.
In other news, a kind donor stepped forward to repair the destroyed home of Nanay Flora whom we met yesterday.
Additional construction materials arrive in bulk at Sipalay. These will be used to construct homes and to repair partially damaged homes.
We have been helping many families in Ilog but Nanay Flora lived in such a secluded spot, we only found out about her because a relative reached out to us. We were saddened to see the sorry state of her home and will try to come up with the funds to repair her house. In the meantime, we hope the bag of food we gave her will be enough to tide her over.
We also posted about the Tatay Reynaldo, one of the oyster growers we’ve been working with. And so many kindred spirits came forth to offer help for him and his ill wife who requires oxygen.
Starting construction of the first of 100 houses in Sipalay.
Working with the the oyster growers of Barangay Dos Talabahan Owners Association of Ilog.
Rebuilding the vermished of the farmers of Peace Pond.
We thank our ground partners for efficiently putting together 6,000 food bags reserved for mountaintop villages where help for those battered by Typhoon Odette has been scarce or absent.
Delivery and distribution of more relief goods around Sipalay
More relief goods re-packing in Sipalay, this time in Brgy. Cabadiangan! Next week, we will start rebuilding here too! We will be building new homes for those who lost theirs to the storm. We are starting in Sipalay as this was the part of Negros that suffered the most damage.
On this same day, Tatay Felipe of Dancalan, Ilog took us to see what was left of his house. Though we would love to rebuild his home, for now we can only give him a bag of relief goods. We hope to raise more for our REBUILD phase so that we can repair and build more homes.
One of our field workers visited Barangay Riverside, Isabela, Negros Oriental the other day to assess the situation. Hildyn, is the Chieftain of the Indigenous People of the area was doubtful we’d return. To his surprise and joy, we showed up today to deliver food and water to the community. The area is so isolated that they had previously received limited help. Our field workers had already been to Isabela but is tucked away in the hills, even the other locals of the province didn’t know about it. If someone had not reached out to us on Messenger, we would not have known about their plight. Hildyn oversaw the residents as they repacked and distributed the goods. It was a wonderful community effort in partnership with NVC.
Added to our list of barangays to reach out to: Barangay Riverside, in the uplands of Isabela, Negros Occidental. While we don’t yet have the funds to repair their houses, we will be sending them some relief goods.
Heads of some schools in upland Cauayan, Negros Occidental, took to habal-habal, tricycles or even carabao drawn carts to meet up with us. They wanted to make sure that families of their impoverished students would get their share of the food packs we delivered on behalf of ABS-CBN Foundation.
Our Rebuild Project Validation on the ground in Brgy. Cabadiangan, Sipalay City
Our REBUILD Project Validation Team on the ground in Sipalay
Loading goods in Bacolod.
Repacking with local volunteers at the shoreline of Brgy. Nauhang, Sipalay.
We wanted the communities we reached today to start the year off on a positive note. And so, for the members of the Talabahan Growers Association in the typhoon stricken town of Ilog and their families, we had a special New Year’s celebration. Two magicians, a clown and a mascot provided entertainment. And the children were given teddy bears and loot bags in addition to cotton candy. And of course, each family was given a lechon manok.
Year-end blessings for the typhoon stricken in Himamaylan and La Castellana.
We also began packing Mingo Meals and water filters bound for Siargao. We knew that the island was devastated by the storm and we hoped to send them relief goods. Due to connectivity issues, we were having trouble contacting our ground partner Jerlyn Rabaca. However, as soon as we were able to contact Jerlyn, we sent some relief goods to the island.
Our RESTORE phase is also underway. We aim to help those affected by the storm get back to their livelihoods. Thank you to Havaianas Philippines for the donation to help families in Ilog, Negros Occidental (below) re-start their oyster production.
Donations for Typhoon Odette relief continue to pour in. We are grateful for all the support we have been receiving, whether in cash or in kind. No amount is too small. These 3,500 food packs for Negros Occidental came from ABS-CBN Foundation.
While we continue to send relief goods to different parts of Negros, we also sent over 10,000 Mingo Meals to Dinagat Island. We entrusted these to the island’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Jillian Lee who is a long-time partner in our fight against hunger.
We have begun to accept donations for REBUILD, part of our three-pronged approach to helping those affected by Super Typhoon Odette. We will continue to raise funds for RELIEF (food and water) but we will also start building simple structures to act as temporary homes.
NVC has chosen to begin its REBUILD efforts in Sipalay because this was the most badly damaged on the island. We will be doing this in partnership with the City of Sipalay. Assisting us in our efforts is Base Bahay Foundation and Peace and Equity Foundation through SIFI and SIMAG Foundations.
Loading of relief goods for Cauayan.
Unloading of goods on site.
We rely on the help of on-site volunteers to help unload and then re-pack and distribute the relief goods. The Parish Youth Ministry of Our Lady of Lourdes-Candoni proved to be very efficient partners!
Today we got to pay a visit to fishermen (some of whom are our partners) when we visited some coastal areas. Thankfully they had been able to secure their boats before the storm so the boats suffered no damage!
Late night and early morning loading
Touchdown in Hinobaan. Relief goods will be re-packed by our on-site volunteers and distributed to families.
Relief goods loaded in Bacolod
Relief goods arrive in Sipalay, southern Negros Occidental
The team was greeted by huge smiles in Cauayan and Sipalay
The storm hit Bacolod in the wee hours of the 17th. As soon as it was safe to go out, we immediately sent relief goods to areas we could reach. Impassable roads hampered our deployment somewhat but we pushed on because we knew many people were in need.
The typhoon first made landfall in Siargao, Surigao del Norte and continued to move westward leaving devastation in its wake. After making its 9th landfall in Roxas, Palawan, the storm finally exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility. Before the storm hit, we had already prepared boxes of Mingo Meals and other relief goods so we’d be ready to go once the storm had passed.
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