Five Faces

Cut the Carbon march ..and cycling to Paris

One of the clear themes which came out of our trip to the Philippines was the devastation climate change is already wreaking in the country. We in the UK are far more responsible for the rise in global temperatures than the Philippines. Christian Aid recognises this and is campaigning hard for us as a nation to reduce our emissions, through lobbying businesses and the government.

This year we are organising the inspirational Cut the Carbon march, which is now well over half way through. The Cut the Carbon march will last eleven weeks, having begun in Northern Ireland on 14 July and ending at the London Stock Exchange on 2 October. The march is raising awareness all over the UK and Ireland that climate change is not just a future problem, it is a current crisis for millions of poor people.

The marchers include 10 campaigners from the global south ….including until recently Demo, who works for SAC Infanta and accompanied the Five Faces on our visit there. Please come and support the walkers in solidarity with Demo.

One of the team, Mark aka Bish or pops, is too old and his knees won’t cope with lengthy walks. However in the spirit of carbon free travel he will be riding the London to Paris bike ride in September to raise awareness and also funds for Christian Aid. He is hoping to raise £2,500 for the work of Christian Aid – if you would like to sponsor him please go to www.justgiving.com/markvyner

Paper Planes / CA Week Advert

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Before and after ...by Mark

I'm sat in Cebu City using a wireless connection on my laptop for the first time in the Philippines. Made the mistake of looking at my work e mails ...do I start attacking the 336 unread while I have spare moment, or do I blog. I think I'll blog!

I cut short my r&r on paradise island - it was great! - for the opportunity to meet FORGE, a partner organisation working with urban poor in Cebu City. Thanks to Zeny at the CA office for making that possible!I have spent most of the day with them. Just like MAHAL and MACEC we saw before, they work with People's Organisations at grass roots level, helping them organise themselves and negotiate basic services form a government which doesn't offer them without a fight. I have been so impressed by these civic society groups which exist everywhere - mainly headed up by women who do such a great job on behalf of their needy neighbours. The way our partners work with them is very empowering - it gives them dignity, and ownership of the various projects they are involved in.

I visited two communities today. The first was a group of 104 families - in Filipino terms that is around 1,000 people - who until just over a year ago lived in the port area of Cebu City. Then they were relocated by the government. They were taken to a site just outside the main city, on the side of a hill, with no means of transport there other than "hubel hubel" (motor bike), and no infrastructure at all - no water, no electricity, no roads. Their livelihoods are all either non existent, or still in the port area. Even walking among them, its difficult to imagine just how hard everyday life must be. And on the other side of the hill, is a middle class affluent community looking down on them in this land of inequality.

Adelina is president of the People's Organisation FORGE work with. We talked about the process of relocation, how they were pressured out by government "goons" and given no compensation and minimal help with rebuilding their makeshift homes. Fire is a major risk - homes made of nothing but cardboard in many places, close together, with no fire access roads ....and unlike the rural areas, no land to grow crops on. Diarrhea is literally a killer. No school either - there were children playing everywhere on a Monday morning. And yet ...when I asked did she have hope, the Filipino resilience came through and she said yes, of course there is hope. I asked her if their plight made her angry? She said no - she only gets angry when people don't turn up to the Organisations' meetings!!

Part of that hope is what FORGE are doing with a neighbouring site - bulldozers have been in to properly develop it with a concrete road and less dangerous housing. Although as we were there the bulldozer was not working ....

Our next stop was different altogether. This community of street vendors had also been relocated, from the bus terminal area once that was expanded over 10 years ago. But with the help of FORGE the local organisation have over the years obtained a self managed water supply, a day care centre,  and electricity. As I toured the area the houses were still flimsy in places, but more were concrete. There was still real fire risk. But there were water pipes and pumps everywhere, and most houses have drinking water - saving the women around the two to three hours it used to take them to fetch water. Sanitation was better. They raise income from these projects too to finance things like a village basketball court, micro credit schemes to help the street vendors buy their stocks, and so on. Next time I'm on a coach I will look at the faces of the vendors willing me to spend a few more pesos in a different light. But this was a community which had put hope into action and made huge progress over the years, albeit a little at a time. Year one handouts on relocation would not have achieved this. Long term partnership with FORGE and empowerment has. They taught them to negotiate with government to get their water supply, trained them, and so on. But as Vidal, the CA programme coordinator at FORGE said - they couldn't empower then this way without the funding from CA. Their current negotiation is to get a 4m wide access road to the highway as a fire risk reduction. I hope they are quickly successful.

Reflection written by Mandy

I'm currently sitting at home in my kitchen, having eaten a typical full Sunday roast with my family. This morning I walked to Church with my family in the cold bitting wind, a far cry from last Sunday.

My overtired, scrambled brain (I have not coped well with my jet lag, 14 hours from Manila to Amsterdam and 1 hour from Amsterdam to Heathrow, followed by a three hour underground, train and car ride) has ensured that my thoughts today have been back in Infanta, to last Sunday, where the Five Faces went to Mass at the new settlement of Agos Agos, a village set up to house the poorest of the poor, built up a mountain so that they felt safe from floods and typhoons. 

We travelled up the mountain in our van until the road petered out and we had to walk the rest of the way, finally climbing up a steep slope to the church where many, many people had gathered in the 38 degrees of heat.  There are grandparents, parents, children and babes in arms there, whole families worshipping together and even though the service is in Tagalog it is still possible to follow the pattern of the readings and Gospel.  The Bishop, Most Rev. Rolando J Tria Tirona, OCD, DD gives the sermon in Tagalog too but then introduced us in English. He is very similar to Deacon Mario, in fact they seem to work very well together, both of them are very positive and inspirational and have a real sense of humour to which we have been frequently exposed. By the time we left the service the temperature was 44 degrees and the reception from the people was even warmer!  How the Filipino people embrace the Catholic faith is in total contrast to the way faith is dealt with in Britain.  Many people there attend a Mass every morning and on Sundays they typically attend services which are held almost hourly, starting at 4am.  Could you imagine getting up for Church at that time of day?  Or could you imagine any of the children being so keen to go that they take their own chairs because they know that there will not be enough seats for them? That is what happens in the Filipino churches................what a stark contrast to our services; today at our church we had four children and twelve adults at our one and only service at 9.30am.  We forget that 'Church' is not just a building, it is a way of life, a community. 

It also shows the contrast between our society and theirs. Ours is a very selfish, materialistic life where family values seem to have gone out of the window and the Filipinos hold tight to their families and communities, each helping each other to survive, which is how we the 'developed world' used to be. 

I pray to God that they never loose that sense of family and community as they continue on their journey to develop their country.

And then there was one ...by Mark

 

Well the Christian Aid part of the trip is over. Four Faces have gone home, and I have stayed on in a beautiful little island to get some r&r. (The photo caption for this one is just to annoy the others ...)The blog will continue while we take in what we have experienced and learned, but there may be a couple of days gap.

We finished our time in Manila with a facilitated session by Father Nonong and Joey from SPI again. I think we all agreed that the most significant aspect of the whole experience for us was our encounters with people here. We saw them in everyday settings.....nothing dramatic, which of course is often how we in the rich West see media images of the poor, as we only see them during crisis times. We saw and met people going about their everyday lives, in many ways the same as us - except so much harder. And we saw how the work of Christian Aid has helped make their lives a little bit easier and the hope that can bring. But its an understatement to say their lives are tough. Even those in the poor communities whose livelihoods are not threatened have to work so hard just to get by. Yet they laugh and smile, incessantly sing whenever they get the chance, and have a richness of relationship with friends and family that we in the West should be envious of.

We also had a presentation of some cutting edge research on the impact of climate change on the Philippines. Surprise surprise- its affecting them more than  the global average in terms of global warming. And again surprise surprise - the areas most at risk from natural disasters are the areas already vulnerable as the poorest areas. We have seen the impact of that.  Apparently the snorkelling on this island I'm on is not what it used to be because the coral is ruined .....but because its ruined the fishers are relying on tourism to make money ....between a rock and a hard place. We can't sit back and watch. I'm glad that Christian Aid are campaigning on climate change this year - go to www.christian-aid.org and see more. These poor fishers for example don't drive big cars or use air con etc etc ....but they suffer the consequences of us doing so. Its an issue of justice.

At home with the Morillas

One of the best experiences on this trip has been spending a day and a night with families who have benefitted from the work of Christian Aid's partner Social Action Centre.

I was dropped off at a small house made of concrete, wood and a metal roof and met by Eddie Morilla (pronounced "More-rill-yo"). Eddie is very friendly, but doesn't speak any English apart from random words and phrases such as "delicious" and "I speak no English". I only know the Tagalog for "Thankyou", "Hello" and "my name is David". However, we manage to make ourselves understood to a certain extent and soon discover that one of the things we have in common is a shared enjoyment of eating. Eddie also enjoys the occasional glass of Lambanog (a distilled coconut liquer) and I recognise the word so he makes it his mission from that point on to offer me Lambanog at every opportunity and in the interest of cross-cultural solidarity I accept a couple of glasses!

In addition to Eddie there is his wife Marilyn who works at the market on a stall selling fish. She starts work at 6:00am each day and finishes at 8:00pm (I wonder whether she can claim any lieu time for that?). She is also extremely friendly and speaks no English. She soon discovers that I like eating though and ensures that there is always a plate of fish and rice within my reach.

Eddie's daughter is called Edelyn (she is one of 6 children) and is in her 3rd year at college studying Commerce, her dream is that one day she will be able to start her own small business preferably a flower shop in Manila, if she has the funds.

The house is then filled up with another 2 daughters, a daughter in law, 3 grandchildren, 5 cats, 4 chickens and 8 pigs. (The pigs don't actually live in the house though!)

Eddie used to be a rice farmer, but after the disaster in November 2004 his land was covered with a layer of mud and became unuseable. Christian Aid / SAC gave him some piglets and the necessary feed to help him to regain his livelihood. He also supplements this by doing a bit of fishing and planting rice on other peoples land.

He took me fishing with him and I helped to pull in the nets. For someone who is used to his fish frozen in a cardboard box it was quite an experience to see a fish come flapping out of the sea and then 20 minutes later be shovelling it into my mouth it was masarap (tasty).

Incidentally Eddie is also an excellent Karaoke singer, which is one of the major hobbies of the Filipino people. In future trip briefings visitors to the country should really be encouraged to prepare a couple of songs as it is a prerequisite of any social event that you sing.

One of the things that I discovered whilst staying with the Morilla family is that here in the Philippines things like food, drink, property, space and time are really treated like a communal commodity rather than something that an individual has to keep to themselves. We were all amazed at how people shared their food, their catch of fish, their houses and their time. It made me think that maybe to be financially rich we actually have to sacrifice a lot of other things. We can't share to the same extent. We protect our "private property" to a much greater degree. One of the aspirations we have in the UK and Ireland is to move from a flat to a terrace to a semi to a detached and the ultimate dream being our own private island complete with security gates and cctv. We become more and more isolated from our neighbours and our communities and hoard more and more for ourselves. However, the family I met have the opposite attitude towards life. When it comes to community and family and relationship they are rich. However, they are still living in that extremely vulnerable position where the next disaster (and everyone here knows that there will be more typhoons and floods) could again devastate their means of livelihood.

Social Action Centre under the leadership of the very inspiring Deacon Mario is all too aware that typhoons are likely to become more common as Climate Change continues to take place and are already planning ahead ways in which they can assure that people like Eddie can be prepared and will have alternative ways of making a living. With their help I really hope Edelyn will get her flower shop.

There's no quick fix... by Mark

It should be a simple success story. A community decimated by typhoons and mud slides. Christian Aid through partner Social Action Centre steps in with an emergency relief programme, including emergency shelters and then livelihood help. And it is indeed an inspirational story , and very moving to see people whose homes and livelihoods have been funded by Christian Aid. We had the privilege of visiting a small fishing village where most of the boats and nets - as well as houses - were destroyed. Charlotte talks of her night spent there. The community was told that a certain amount of money was available for help for fishing, their livelihood, and people were asked to choose what they wanted within the limits of money available. Many were able to repair their little boats, or bancas, but the engines  were beyond repair so they were given new engines.

We were excited as one such boat powered by a Christian Aid funded engine came in to shore from the day's fishing. Felicitao had been out for almost 8 hours alone as normal. But he caught just two fish. They will fetch 200 Pesos, but the cost of his fuel for the trip was 130 pesos, leaving him with about 60p for a day's work. He could have got 50p by labouring as a stevedore helping bring in other people's cargo from ships arriving at the small port - what many of the fishermen have resorted to doing. The day before he had a much better catch, but the story of their lives is that for a combination of factors including  climate change the fish are getting further away and they are having to travel further and furtehr to get them. Life on the edge ...

Without the engine he wouldn't have caught anything, and he is getting enough food on the table especially as the community all share so much ...but it serves as an illustration how much further work is needed, and a one off helping hand is not quite enough.

We interviewed deacon Mario of SAC the following morning, and the emotion in his voice as he relayed a message of thanks to Christian Aid's supporters was very moving as he said it was the difference between life and death for many. Much has been achieved and it has been a privilege to see it first hand, but it has also shown forcefully how much more needs to be done.

The Day the Mountain Came Down by Mandy

Well we are now back in Manila having spent the last four days in Infanta, a place you won't find mentioned in the guide books.  There is one road in which is full of military checkpoints, all of the soldiers carry guns but we were not stopped once on the way in or out. It would appear that they are there for use to catch certain people! 

There is a world of difference in Infanta compared to everything else that we have seen heard or visited. Even on the way in I noticed that the animals seemed perky, dogs tails were wagging as they trotted about. An air of hope......

Infanta was completely destroyed by mud slides in 2004 when 'the mountain came down' quite literally.  The rains that hit the area dropped 370mm of rain and the mountain itself can only cope with 37mm before it causes flooding in the valley. This combined with the deforestation of the area to build a resort further up by a rich entrepreneur led to the disaster where the trees swept down towards the sea taking everything and everybody, on its journey.  Imagine sitting and eating (it happened at 7pm) talking to your family one minute, the next hurtling through flood waters in the dark, clinging to a log or piece of furniture desperately trying to survive, not knowing where your children were.  Many people were never found.  112 people went to their 'safe house' used for typhoon shelter when the rain came, they were families made up of grandparents, parents and children.  The mud slide buried the house, the roof collapsed trapping all inside, effectively burying them alive. 10 days later after the military had managed to land on the coast they only dug 4 people out alive.  The rest have been left to rest and a memorial has been put up.   

In spite of and due to this, the people have pulled together and with the help of SAC, our partner, they have cleared the mud and rebuilt their shattered lives. 

Deacon Mario (SAC) appears at first to be a hard man.  His motto is, and has been from the start, 'Food for Work'.  Having seen him in action in this community, he is truly inspirational and compassionate but is right to enforce this rule as it works very well to help people lift themselves up to deal with another catastrophe, another day.

Home sweet home - by Becky

We have just arrived back in Manila and I am very tired but as a write I'm thinking of Dora.  I spent a night in Dora's home in the small fishing community of Libjo, Infanta.  From the moment I arrived Dora was busy - washing clothes, serving people in the small store she ran and topping up mobile phone credit for people in the community.  Then we fed the pigs and cooked the evening meal.  It was a bit of a challenge trying to communicate when the only think I can say in Tagalog is thank you but we got there with lots of hand gestures, pointing and laughter. 

Dora's husband has a small banca (fishing boat) and they have 16 pigs - both of which were provided through the Social Action Centre (SAC) as sources of livelihood.  I slept quite well, sharing a room with Dora's daughter Mira, although I've never actually been woken by a cockerel before.  When we got up at 6:30am (those who know me will know how much of a challenge that was) we had a 'small' breakfast, egg butties, and then went down to the beach to see the morning's catch being brought in. 

On the way Dora showed me where her house had stood before the landslides of November 2004,  all that was there was a small piece of concrete and then a lagoon full of logs.  From the moment we drove into Infanata, with the commentary from Deacon Marion of SAC, I found it really difficult to comprehend just how disastrous the catastrophe had been - mud and logs reaching incredible heights, sweeping away bridges and homes. On return from the beach there was more breakfast - fish an vegetable soup of course with rice.  Although Dora is living in a temporary shelter in Libjo, she has a permanent concrete home in the new settlement of Agos Agos located away from the danger zone of further floods but Dora's main source of support - the fishing and the pigs - are in Libjo so the three members of her family live in a small wooden house nearer to the sea. 

Dora is also the barangay health worker in Libjo and just before I left her she was giving an elderly woman a check up - she was suffering from a headache and low blood pressure - Dora advised her to drink more water and gave her some paracetamol.  Dora and her family are working incredibly hard.  I arrived with them on a Sunday afternoon and they didn't sit down to their meal until 7:30pm both her husband and daughter had been out working until then.  As with all the other people we had met in Infanta they were keen to thank Christian Aid for the support given to them after the disaster.

As we walked into the hotel this afternoon with an en-suite toilet I recalled the walk in the darkness to the 'comfort room' next to the piggery at Dora's and the hand pump shared with the neighbours, the closest thing to a shower.  Being here as when I visited Christian Aid's partners in Sierra Leone it make me grateful for the things I usually take for granted - running water, a flushing toilet, an education, a chance to travel, a choice of where to live and what to eat.

No turning back, by Charlotte

Well, we're back in Manila after a busy few days in Infanta. Over the last two weeks I feel like I've really had a true taste of Filipino life, greatly helped by an overnight stay a couple days ago with a local family in Libjo, a small fishing village near Infanta. At first I felt quite nervous about it - my host 'mum', Bibi, doesn't speak any English, and my Tagalog only consists of 'thank you' and 'good morning'!

However, in true Filipino style, the friendliness and charming nature oozed out of this family, who welcomed me like one of their own. I quickly established a friendship with Bibi's daughter, Lorellie, who could speak a lot more English than I could Tagalog, and we went for a walk together on the beach, teaching each other various words in each other's language. As her confidence grew she spoke more and more English, and laughed more and more at my attempt at Tagalog! Lorellie is trained as a computer secretary, but there is no work for her in Infanta, so she runs a small store by the sea.

We went to the market to buy food for the evening, 3 of us on a moped (good fun, although I'm sorry to say that I've lost my bet with Pete about beating his record of 7 on a bike!). The market was a wonderful place, full of the smells and tastes of Filipino cooking (don't come here if you want to diet - they feed you at least 6 times a day). The local vendor refused to sell me vegetables until I told him how old I was and whether I was married, which caused Lorellie much amusement. Then it was back 'home' and off to meet all of the relatives.

Many of Lorellie's family members are benficiaries of Christian Aid's partner SAC (social action centre). When the 2004 typhoons struck Infanta, Libjo was on the flood path. The beach was covered in logs, and lots of fishing boats were destroyed. SAC have given these families motor engines for their boats, fishing nets, and any other equipment they needed to get back up and running. It was an incredibly personal way of giving - each family were asked exactly what they needed, and recevied just that. Lorellie's two cousins both had new boats (bancas as they are called) and returned from fishing whilst I was there, showing me their catch. Although its only just enough to feed the family, and sell some at market, these fishermen seem content, and are eager to thank me for Christian Aid's support. As one of them says;

"Without people helping us, we would be no more. I didn't know how I would feed my family. My life became nothing before my eyes, in less than a day I had lost everything I had ever owned"

How difficult it is to imagine what this must feel like. Not only to lose your house, but also your job, your livelihood, and in many case your family members, all in less than 24 hours. And I am now realising more and more that this wasn't just a typhoon, or a cruel hand delt by nature. Climate extremes like this are caused by the actions of our rich nations, abusing our world as if it will never take revenge. How many more typhoons will it take before we take responsibility for our actions? Before I came here, climate change was just 2 little words, something to sit at dinner and talk about, something to debate. To these people it is real life, it is a time bomb, waiting to explode again.

I hope that this personal conviction remains when I leave here. I think I owe that to Lorellie, to her family, and all those that lost so much on that avoidable day in November 2004.