We’ve all been horrified and saddened by the images in the news since Typhoon Haiyan struck land on November 7 in the Philippines: flattened buildings, smashed boats and displaced people. Families digging through the wreckage of their homes and lives. Parents searching desperately for lost children. One of the most powerful typhoons to hit land in recorded history has left thousands dead and many more homeless and desperate.
In the midst of all this tragedy, AJWS supporters have turned to us to help. Our donors have contributed nearly $500,000 for typhoon survivors, and we have been working around the clock to get this critical funding to people who need it most.
AJWS on the Ground in the Philippines
AJWS has made its first four emergency grants for typhoon relief—$70,000 to three Filipino grassroots organizations and $45,000 to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), an organization that works closely with local groups in its humanitarian aid.
The three grassroots organizations have been in the country for years and are already on the ground and providing critical services to typhoon survivors, including distributing food and supplies, importing water and sanitation equipment and providing medical treatment. AJWS will make additional grants in the coming days and weeks.
You can donate here, or read more about what our first four grantees are doing to help survivors of Typhoon Haiyan:
Center for Empowerment and Resource Development (CERD)
CERD, based in Quezon City, Philippines, went into action immediately after Typhoon Haiyan subsided. CERD staff conducted a damage and needs assessment in eight coastal villages of Biri and Mondragon municipalities in Northern Samar, and have started distributing food to families in Mondragon. Before the typhoon, CERD’s work was focused on helping local fishermen and women sustainably manage ecosystems that are vital for their survival.
Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR)
CTUHR, based in Quezon City, Philippines, is coordinating with local organizations to collect money and donations and set up drop-off centers to distribute them to survivors of the typhoon who are not being reached by national relief efforts. The organization—which, pre-typhoon, documented and monitored human rights violations committed against workers—has an extensive network of partners throughout the country and specifically in some of the hardest hit areas in Southern Leyte and Cebu. These partnerships have enabled CTUHR to organize efficient and rapid response efforts.
National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL)
NUPL, based in Quezon City, Philippines, is collecting donations and transporting food and water to affected areas. Its relief packs consist of ready-to-eat meals, rice, clothing, blankets, tarpaulins and simple shelter materials. It is also sending its members to coordinate the transport and distribution of items and to assess further needs. NUPL is a nationwide, voluntary association of human rights lawyers with a chapter in the Eastern Visayas, the epicenter of the typhoon.
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders, DWB)
DWB is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. DWB is rapidly scaling up its response to Typhoon Haiyan and will have more than 100 staff in the area in the coming days, including doctors, nurses, surgeons, logisticians, psychologists and water and sanitation experts. Nine planeloads of aid materials—including medical supplies, shelter materials, hygiene kits, and water and sanitation equipment—are being dispatched to the Philippines from DWB warehouses around the world. Three of the planes arrived in Cebu on November 13.
AJWS will make additional grants in the coming weeks and months, and we will provide updates on our grantees’ efforts on the ground. We thank our donors for their generosity in the wake of this terrible tragedy.
