Philippines Relief – Update from the PBV Team

November 20, 2013

(Update from Nov. 17th) – More than a week has now passed since Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines. The headlines read “Food at Last!”, referring to the deliverance of much-needed food supplies to the the Eastern Samar region.

Support provided by the government and military forces and detailed damage assessments are mainly focused on the city of Tacloban. The UN and other international relief organizations are largely based on the island of Cebu, where they are working to improve issues including safety, electricity, shelter and transport. As one can see from looking at the trail of devastation left behind by Typhoon Haiyan, the areas which have sustained major damage are Eastern Samar, the North of Cebu Island and Panay Island.

One of the relief activities that PBV is involved with is distributing emergency supplies in the Nortern Cebu area with a local organization, FJERA (Filipino Japanese Emergency Response Association). We have held various meetings with other organizations and community leaders in the area and are planning to use the funds we have raised in both Japan and around the world to purchase and provide supplies that are most urgently needed.

PBV holding a meeting in Manila to discuss the extent and nature of the damage in the affected areas with Mr. Suzuki from FJERA (Above).

We have also established contact with the NGO PGX (The Peoples’ Global Exchange) and are working closely to determine how we can support their relief activities.

Once relief supplies are gathered in Manila, volunteers categorize them and the items are shipped to the affected areas. In the Philippines, made up of over 7000 islands, ships are an extremely valuable asset for transportation of goods and people.

PGX, a partner of Peace Boat for 30 years, has a vast network of domestic and international NGOs and support children and youths in the Philippines, as well as promoting Fair Trade.

A meeting with Vim from PGX. In this shop, selling a variety of Fair Trade goods, a photo of Peace Boat is displayed on the wall (Above).

Peace Boat assisted PGX in their relief work through fundraising in the wake of a major typhoon which struck Manila in 2009. In April 2011, soon after the Great East Japan Earthquake, PGX and many other residents of Manila gathered emergency supplies to load onto the Peace Boat to deliver to the people of Tohoku.

PBV’s representatives are currently on Cebu Island, working closely with local organizations to assist affected communities.

Please donate to support our on-going relief activities! Online donations page (English) -

http://www.peaceboat-us.org/get-involved/make-a-donation/