After Typhoon Haiyan ravaged through the Philippines, the GoAbroad Foundation was faced with a partner in desperate need of international aid. The tasks laid out in front of us seemed insurmountable, with multiple community centers, hundreds of homes, and thousands of lives to rebuild. Then came Architecture for Humanity (AFH). Connected to us through an old student of our Founder, Elisa…
Though 12 months have passed, there are still countless issues that remain unaddressed. There are still multiple Tent Cities throughout the island of Leyte, where families remain living in tents distributed by the UN within a month of Typhoon Haiyan. The tents continue to deteriorate and the families continue to wait for permanent relocation sites to move to. Many households remain…
Though locally, people were shocked beyond belief by the destruction, and understandably so, one would think Humanitarian Relief Workers, who have seen multiple disasters in their lifetime, would find the aftermath of a disaster to be somewhat routine. However, for relief workers arriving in Tacloban after Typhoon Haiyan, the devastation appeared anything but routine, as did the reaction to it. Tanja…
What are survivors of Typhoon Haiyan thankful for this year? The following list is a collection of items, characteristics of life, people, and much much more that survivors can’t help but be thankful for this Thanksgiving. 1. Our Children – the future. The children who will live on for years to come, remembering the challenges we’ve overcome, representing our family,…
In less than 500 minutes, the lives of millions of people were changed forever. Minutes altered the landscape of the mountains. Minutes made the sea into a monster. Each minute a child lost a parent and a parent lost a child. Each minute someone lost the love of their lives. In mere minutes, millions of people lost their homes and all sense…
As November 8th approached, Herme’s anxiety rose and the signs that this storm may not be like all the rest were jumping out at him right and left. Despite his best reasoning, his wife refused to evacuate before the typhoon so Herme prepared for the worst. With two small children, his wife had just given birth to their second child,…
In the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, nations all over the world turned their focus to the immense destruction in the Philippines and more importantly to the victims and survivors of the storm. Millions of people helped support relief and recovery efforts in the days, weeks, and months following what has been called the worst storm in history. Nevertheless, Hope for…
For Day 23 of our 30 Days of Typhoon Yolanda series, we share with you excerpts from a powerful reflection from Joanna, a young woman who has much to say about surviving and moving past November 8th, 2013. “It has been a year since super typhoon Haiyan ravaged our beloved city…I will never forget what happened on that day, every…
As a survivor of Typhoon Yolanda himself, our founder Troy Peden has been impacted in many ways by his experiences. Now relocated to Colorado with his family, we asked him “What have you learned from Typhoon Yolanda?” His initial response was: I have learned so much but I am still sorting it out. The fact that every time I see…
At just 19 years old, she had so much life to live when Typhoon Yolanda came bursting into her life. Her 20th birthday was just 2 months away and she was a year away from graduating college. Though the thought of such an immense storm sparked a bit of anxiety, she had no idea the true fear that she was…
