November 8th, 2014 marks the 1 year Anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan, known locally in the Philippines as Typhoon Yolanda. Referred to as the strongest storm in recorded history, and rightly so, Yolanda took almost 10,000 lives in the Visayas region of the Philippines, though many will never be recorded because they will sadly never be found. Over 1000 individuals remain missing even a year after the Typhoon struck, and multiple mass burials have left many families without closure or hope for finding their loved ones.
There are families that remain in tents, that are quickly deteriorating after 12 months of weathering, they continue to await proper relocation. Many more families have no stable livelihood, since all forms of livelihood was stripped away from them by the Typhoon and its subsequent storm surge. Whether farmers, fisherman, or business owners, the Typhoon affected every individuals source of income.
Although a great deal has been done to help rebuild the lives of those affected and reconstruct the region’s cities, there is still much more to be done. The GoAbroad Foundation will be launching a special Anniversary Edition Newsletter this November, but we also wanted to commemorate and remember the great devastation of Typhoon Haiyan and also share the experiences of those who were directly affected by the typhoon and shed light on the continuing needs in the Philippines so awareness can be raised and along with it more support for the region.
For the next 30 days of November, we will be featuring a story, a project update, an interview, and everything in between about Typhoon Yolanda, so all of you can learn more about the vast destruction, the incredible survival against all odds, the aftermath, the progress of relief and recovery, and the state of the Visayas region today.
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We invite you to follow our journey through November over the next 30 days.