Donations from islands shape Filipino relief projects

A year after super typhoon Haiyan ravaged the Philippines, leaving more than 6,000 dead, hundreds missing and a million homes damaged or destroyed, Hawaii is making an impact in the recovery.

More than $1 million in donations from the islands have been spent on projects aimed at helping victims recover from the devastation, and millions more are earmarked for an ambitious plan to build a new disaster-resilient resettlement community from the ground up.

"We want to build a model community in an area of need that’s not getting a whole lot of attention or service," said Jon Matsuoka, president and CEO of the Consuelo Foundation, the Honolulu-based nonprofit that is overseeing Project HOPE, which is funded by the largest chunk of Hawaii donations pledged for Haiyan relief.

The Consuelo Foundation is a 25-year-old organization with the mission of running programs in Hawaii and the Philippines that prevent and treat abuse, neglect and the exploitation of children, women and families.

After the monster storm struck in November 2013, the foundation’s board put up $2 million and urged matching contributions from Hawaii’s Filipino community, business community and others here.

The community responded.

"It seemed like everyone wanted to do something to help our friends in the Philippines, and it was really wonderful to see," said AJ Halagao, a lead organizer of the Aloha for Philippines fundraising campaign for the Filipino Community Center. "It just shows the special bond we have between Hawaii and the Philippines. It was definitely very inspiring."

The Filcom Center collected more than $700,000 for relief efforts and gave it to the Consuelo Foundation for the match. Together with contributions from other sources, Project HOPE (Haiyan Operations for Protection and Empowerment) grew to nearly $3.5 million.

"What we experienced was an incredible outpouring of aloha and generosity," Matsuoka said.

Halagao said he witnessed an overwhelming response from folks in Hawaii — "Filipino and non-Filipino, individuals, organizations, local companies. Within 24 hours we were able to get all the banks in Hawaii to open up their branches to get money for the Philippines. It was a wonderful way to kick off our efforts.

"What actually was the most inspiring was when I had a chance to visit the Philippines and you see all the children and the families and how incredibly grateful they are and thankful they are for all the aloha we have shown to them."

Veteran television broadcaster Emme Tomimbang, who organized the sold-out Aloha for Philippines concert Dec. 28 at the Hawaii Theatre, said she didn’t expect to visit the Philippines this summer. But then it occurred to her that since she stuck her neck out fundraising for Project HOPE, she owed it to the many donors to see firsthand what they paid for.

Her assessment: The project is improving lives.

She said she was shocked by personal descriptions of the storm’s magnitude and moved by the tragic stories of the loss of loved ones. She was stunned by how much devastation remained this summer. But she was also heartened by the work of Project HOPE and impressed by what was being accomplished.

Tomimbang documented her visit along with the work of the Consuelo Foundation in an hourlong "Island Moments" documentary, "Haiyan … After the Storm," which will air on KGMB at 9 p.m. Thursday.

With large sections of the country’s rural central islands, the Visayas, devastated by Haiyan’s fury, the foundation decided to focus on areas that were largely ignored, including Eastern Samar, Talotu-an, Iloilo, Bantayan Island, Coron and Palawan.

A team of disaster relief experts was assembled to travel across the Visayas, make connections with local governments and nonprofit agencies and help prioritize needs.

The plan was to allocate 25 percent of the Project HOPE funds to immediate relief and emergency assistance, and some 1,250 families ended up feeling the benefits through work that included repair and construction of 16 day care centers and 10 classrooms.

Also funded were psychological and social services for 887 children and 80 adults. Not only was there a need for help with psychological trauma from the storm, but counseling also helped to combat a rise in cases of sexual abuse, teenage pregnancies, child trafficking and increasing school dropout rates, officials said.

Other efforts were aimed at getting people back on their feet financially. Some of the programs included an employment project involving cut flowers and vegetable farming in Ormoc, Leyte, and construction of 70 fishing boats in Tacloban and Talotu-an, Iloilo.

Matsuoka said the planned new community is part of the mission’s $2.5 million Phase 2. The town, to be built from scratch on property purchased by the foundation, will serve 100 families and feature state-of-the-art technology for sustain­ability and storm resiliency.

The homes, for example, may feature "micro-utilities" such as wind and solar power, and the homes won’t rely on septic tanks but have organic sanitation system, he said. The plan, he said, is for the community to be completed in a year and a half and to serve as an example for future town construction throughout the Philippines. The foundation is negotiating for land in Eastern Samar and hopes to start construction in January.

"We want to build a community that reflects this vision for how communities should exist," Matsuoka said.

There have been other Haiyan relief projects from Hawaii:

» Doctors and volunteers with Ohana Medical Mission have traveled to the Philippines and offered desperately needed medical care.

» Catholic churches in Hawaii raised money for the national Catholic Relief Services, which is carrying out a five-year plan that will help 500,000 people get back on their feet with living supplies, clean water, sanitation, debris clearing, innovative permanent housing, and jobs.

» The Congress of Visayan Organizations in Hawaii raised $100,000 and has been working to rebuild two towns, one in Tacloban, which was hit hard by Haiyan, and Bohol, which was devastated by an earthquake a month before the typhoon.

May Mizuno, president of the Congress of Visayan Organizations in Hawaii, said she will be traveling to the Philippines in December to reopen those towns.

The group will hold a dance party to raise additional funds for victims of the storm and earthquake at Rumours Nightclub Wednesday.

In a meeting with the Consuelo Foundation board last week, a visiting Mia Castro, the foundation’s managing director in the Philippines, said: "As a Filipina, I am so grateful to say thank you face to face. The tragedy was very heartbreaking, but the support of the international community has been really encouraging and heartwarming.

"Working on this project for a whole year has taught us many lessons," she said. "At the end of the day, it’s really all about family … This family, this ohana, is big and global because this is what you’ve shown us. People really care for one another. It’s been really inspiring."