Two weeks before Typhoon Haiyan ravaged several islands, Bolho was the epicenter of a massive 7.2 earthquake. During our Phase 4 push in February, Jack, Jon and Carlo headed up a special mission to restock, and do advanced training, with our local front lines teams. These are the ones who have been working tirelessly since quake & storm to serve all of those who lost everything. We travel across the world, on planes, trucks, boats to do one thing: help the helpers.
The best reward for us: getting to meet and work shoulder-to-shoulder with the most amazing, courageous, kick-ass team of locals - and, like our Hurricane Sandy partners, most are devoted surfers - never afraid to charge into 'harms way' . . .
Phases 1 through 3 brought 3,000 clean-water systems to the hardest hit regions of the islands most damaged by Typhoon Haiyan.
Phase 4 saw the training and distribution of 3,000 more clean-water systems to the islands of Pandanon, Northern Cebu, ilo-ilo, Bohol, Leyte and Siargao.
As part of Phase 4, Jon and Jack, along with Carlo Delanter, implemented the Pandanon, Bohol & Leyte projects.
Also, as final implementation of Phase 4, Carlo Delanter and team implemented our Siargao clean-water project.
Siargao Trip
"What struck me the deepest is that most of the people in the places we have worked in have been drinking unsafe drinking water. Although many locals have built immunities to some bacterias, they have reported common cases of infections and diseases from drinking the water, especially the children. With this realization in mind, setting out to places that need our clean-water systems the most was a priority, which led us to Siargao. Siargao is a beautiful place and also known around the world as a great surfing island, famous for Cloud 9. The “Doing what you love and helping along the way” motto shines through this island - and here is why. It all started out with a friend showing photos of continuous flooding in the island. We embarked to the northern town of Burgos to meet with Hope for the Island to train and demonstrate how the bucket filter works. Everyone reported cases of typhoid fever to diarrhea. Listening to all these stories is so common, that it became clear that the reality of someone sick from bad water is a common, everyday occurrence. The next day, we coursed our way through San Isidro where we met local leaders from different parts of town. Quickly grasping the impact of the filters, an impromptu meeting was held to determine where the greatest need was in this part of Siargao. Then we went straight to General Luna and met with our local contacts. Well water was only used for bathing but not for drinking, a clear sign of unsafe drinking water. Like all the other towns we visited, the locals are very aware of the importance of clean drinking water. A total of 300 filters & buckets were brought to the island. We plan to continue our efforts to bring access to clean drinking water to islands like Siargao and Pandanon, Bohol and Leyte, ilo-ilo and Cebu. Unsafe drinking water is clearly a severe issue, but it can be solved." - Carlo Delanter
Below are 11 images from Tacloban on Leyte Island - these tell the ongoing story of Nataniel Benares and the University of Philippines Mountaineers ( UP Mountaineers). They are continuing to bring our clean-water systems to the front lines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. Here is Nataniel's personal update.
"My team and I are happy to distribute the filters and would like to thank Waves For Water for our partnership. I’m personally looking forward to more missions to bring clean waters to the communities. During our trip to Tacloban and Leyte, we targeted isolated public schools, communities, satellite clinics and Manobo tribe (local tribe). We brought 200 filters and served approximately 1000 or more kids and more than 400 families. We will bring more to Guian Samar and Bohol this month." Nataniel Benares, EMT