Salvacion Pacatang at her desk in the CRS/DSAC Cayagan de Oro, Philippines Office. She lost her home to flash floods triggered by Typhoon Sendong in December 2011. Photo by Autumn Brown/CRS

By Autumn Brown

Seeing Salvacion Pacatang walk around the office as the area coordinator working with Catholic Relief Services’ partner, the Diocese Social Action Center, you would never guess that her life had been turned upside down only a few months before. She is a survivor of Typhoon Sendong, the cyclone that ravaged her community in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines on the night of December 16, 2011—killing many of her friends and neighbors and sweeping her home out to sea.

The morning of the flashflood, Salvacion traveled with her family to visit a sister—leaving her 10-year-old daughter, Delseah, behind in the care of her 20-year-old nephew, John Mark.

It started to rain very heavily that night and Salvacion began to worry about her daughter. Over the phone Delseah told her that the first floor of her home was already flooded. Salvacion began to panic. She knew her daughter could not swim. Their neighbors who lived in one-story homes had come over and were staying with Delseah on the second floor for safety.
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Over the past few days, Catholic Relief Services teams have hiked through mudslide areas, coping with broken bridges and submerged roads, to reach survivors of massive floods in northern Pakistan. Mr. Said Mehmood, Senior Field Engineer for CRS in the Pakistani town of Besham, reports from the field:

A man evacuates his children through waist-deep waters after heavy flooding in Nowshera, located in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Photo by Adrees Latif

“We faced the first mudslide which blocked the road just 2 miles from the CRS office. After this we started our journey to Dubair on foot. On the way we passed 6 big landslides and many small ones. The local community made a temporary bridge from electrical utility poles which is only for walking, not cars.

“During our travel we also observed many people coming toward Besham from different affected areas of Kohistan. These peoples are continuously traveling for 8 to 10 hours for food and other items from Besham market. They are coming through very dangerous and irregular hilly areas.

“We reached the Dubair bazaar by crossing a huge slide with a huge deep gully. When we reached Dubair market, we were very surprised to see that a 70-foot-deep stream had washed away houses and shops. We were grieved that we could not see the plot of land where we had planned a new CRS school. All the building material and the plot of land was washed away—the flood threw all of it into the Indus River.
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On September 5, Monsignor Yves Marie Péan, bishop of Gonaives, Haiti, sent an urgent appeal. Flooding from four successive storms trapped about 500 people at his residence. Today he writes about the slow rebuilding process in his city.

The port city of Gonaives suffered severe damage after storms, including Hurricane Ike, dumped several feet of water in the city. Now, after the flooding, residents of Gonaives must dig out from under tons of mud. Photo by Donal Reilly/CRS

My first wish for the people of Haiti is I want them to experience that they are not alone, that they have not been abandoned by providence or by God. God always sends people to help, to accompany them, to show them how God is merciful.
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Adhong Syahri ramadhan, CRS’ emergency response manager based in Jakarta, recently returned from two villages in Indonesia hard hit by the recent flooding and landslides following of heavy rainfall. More than 14 people were reported dead, and nearly 3000 people were forced to flee their homes. Adhong, who has worked for CRS for five years, spoke with CRS Communications Officer Liz O’Neill about what he saw. CRS is supporting our local partner in distributing emergency relief materials to the most needy populations. Adhong was also involved in the Aceh tsunami response and Yogyakarta-central Java earthquake response.

A bridge damaged by flooding near the village of Girimukti. Photo by Syahri Ramadhan/CRS.

1. For someone unable to see what you witnessed on the ground, could you describe the scene for us?

November 19, I was arriving in the hardest hit village by landslide name Girimukti at 2 p.m. with torrential rain still falling in the village. That was a day after the search and rescue team pulled out from the location with total casualties reported 14 and more than 3 missing. The number of people missing was reported differently by newspaper, but search and rescue teams received only 3 people reported missing from the community.

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Latrines. Maybe they don’t make your list of Things I Get Excited About. But for Katherine Westphal, water and sanitation technical advisor for CRS in India, latrines are all about delivering health, in this case to people driven from their homes by massive flooding.

The Q&A that follows is the first of three parts that give insight into living conditions for thousands of people forced to evacuate after floodwaters tore through Bihar, India in August.

Caroline Brennan, CRS regional information officer in India for the past three years, provided the questions.

CRS water and sanitation engineer Katherine Westphal helps children displaced by the flood each get a stick with a red flag before going on their game to search for areas of open defecation. Photo by CRS staff

Many people aren’t quite sure what latrines are, or may just understand that it’s a hole in the ground. Can you explain what it is you’re building?

The shallow trench latrine is not like your typical pit latrine (i.e. a hole in the ground) found throughout US State Parks. Rather, it is a semi-enclosed communal structure with a long trench (about 2 feet deep and 10 inches wide) that runs the length of the latrine. For privacy, the trench is partitioned into 5 sections. With one foot on either of side of the trench, in a comfortable squatting position, human waste is disposed of safely. Once the trench is about half full it is back-filled with soil and a new adjacent trench is dug.<\p>

To reduce odors, the latrine is designed without a roof and ash is sprinkled into the trench periodically. In some cases, where the latrine is built facing an open flooded plane, the third wall is removed for increased air flow.

The design has a very open feel, almost like you are outdoors. By using locally available materials such as jute stem (reeds) and bamboo, we have created a durable and airy latrine. Sounds nice doesn’t it?!

How did you come up with this design?

The design took shape after speaking with flood-affected families about their common sanitation practices and preferences, and observing that pit latrines are seldom used. In this area of Bihar, the majority of the flood-affected people practice open defecation. Therefore it is understandable that the concept of a smelly, enclosed pit latrine would feel uncomfortable and unfamiliar.

Rather than do what is most difficult in this field (create behaviour change), I decided to work with the current practices and add in a few modifications. There were two key objectives with this latrine design; safe disposal of human waste and privacy for men and women throughout the day. Along a 25 mile stretch of a canal embankment, where tens of thousands of displaced people are seeking shelter, there is limited space for open defecation. As a result, men, women and children are defecating directly into the canal or moving to open areas under the shelter of night. Under these circumstances, women feel especially vulnerable and tend to travel in groups between 10pm and 3am to defecate.

How does an American girl get into this line of work? (What do your parents think?!)

Funny you should ask! With an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering I joined Peace Corps as a water and sanitation engineer in Panama. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into but quickly developed a passion for this line of work. It can be a little dirty (and smelly!) at times, but what greater gift can one give than clean water and a comfortable toilet?

Really, if my parent’s weren’t so supportive I could never live in these remote regions of the world. I do think that they wonder how someone who enjoys the luxuries of the United States can spend her days in defecation fields!

What are the biggest challenges in what you do?

I find that the biggest challenge in what I do is that I can never do enough. There will always be people without clean water and at times I feel very small in what I can accomplish.

I also find it really challenging being a woman in this field. In parts of the world where female engineers are uncommon of it takes a lot of energy to be heard.

CRS writer Kai T. Hill is in Miami reporting on local efforts to help Haiti and Cuba following a series of storms that battered the island nations.

My visit to relief and collection efforts in Miami began on Sunday at Saint James parish in North Miami.

Before leaving CRS headquarters in Baltimore I learned that Monsignor Jean Pierre, pastor of this prominent, largely Haitian parish, was in Haiti and would be getting back on Sunday. While in Haiti, he met with CRS country representative for Haiti, Bill Canny, and was able to tour some of the affected cities such as Jacmel and Cabaret. In addition to providing food, water and survival supplies to families in the hardest hit areas, CRS has obtained a warehouse in Port-Au-Prince to help Haiti’s bishops store incoming donated goods.

Catholic Relief Services workers pick up supplies to be distributed in the port city of Gonaives, Haiti. Aid workers are shipping food and supplies by boat and air, as the roads leading up to the city remain inaccesible. Photo by Greg Elder/CRS

“A lot of people are still living in mud, scared to go into their homes, some are still living on their rooftops, We have to keep being in solidarity with them,” says Msgr. Pierre above the bustling sound of volunteers packing donated goods that range from clothes to baby strollers and cans of beans and rice to cases of bottled water stacked several feet high.

Thus far the parish has sent about four or five 40,000 pound shipping containers to the Port of Miami to be shipped to Haiti. It’s one thing to see the fallout of disaster on television but last week Msgr. Pierre had a chance to see Haiti’s devastation first hand.

In the community of Caberet, Haiti he says “People are still in shock. It was a heartbreaking lesson to hear their stories as they have lost a child, they have lost a parent because they could not swim. But the storms happened at night so most of the people were sleeping. Most of the people who have died were children because they could not run, they could not hide.”

I’d never met Msgr. Pierre in person and figured that I would have to dodge between parishioners after Mass to introduce myself and borrow a few minutes of his time. When I pulled up in the church’s side lot a man wearing casual clothing greeted me. I told him that I was looking for Monsignor Jean Pierre. He smiled whimsically and told me that I was looking at him. He was not how I had pictured a monsignor. It was just in May that I sought his guidance for a CRS web article on the Archdiocese of Miami’s efforts to raise money for CRS and send goods to Haiti. Although his parish is one of the most prominent in South Florida’s Haitian community, he also encouraged me to visit Notre Dame D’ Haiti a ways south.

Today, the floods from three successive hurricanes have become the latest affliction to Haiti. Msgr. Pierre was eager to talk about his recent trip, South Florida’s collection efforts and how CRS is helping hurricane-affected families recover.

One of the most important things families things need now are building materials.”I’ve seen so many families homes there, I think that’s an urgent need. I would encourage people to donate so that we can get people back on their feet.”

CRS writer Kai T. Hill is in Miami reporting on local efforts to help Haiti and Cuba following a series of storms that battered the island nations.

For weeks I sat behind my desk at Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore processing details from storm-torn Haiti and Cuba. During emergencies we rely on updates and photos from the field to provide our Web readers and donors with “on the ground” accounts as quickly as possible.

Catholic Relief Services workers pick up supplies to be distributed in the port city of Gonaives, Haiti. Aid workers are shipping food and supplies by boat and air, as the roads leading up to the city remain inaccesible. Photo by Greg Elder/CRS

Yet, to my surprise the situation reports not only included details of the destruction and loss inside Haiti, but also the remarkable Church response by parishes and communities throughout the United States. From small towns like Gary, Indiana, to New York, New Jersey and South Florida, parishes are collecting money, residents are filling church halls with clothes, canned goods, food and other items. Volunteers are working around the clock to fill shipping containers headed for the ports.

As the associate web producer for CRS my current assignment is to tell the stories of lay Catholics and Church leaders who are donating money, goods and time for both islands. No better place to start is Miami, Florida—the closest point to Haiti and Cuba geographically and in heart and spirit.

CRS has shared a long relationship with the Archdiocese of Miami, where Archbishop Favalora recently sent a strong message for Catholics to live their faith through outreach for the suffering in Haiti and Cuba.

In the days leading up to my trip I made sure that I had enough notebooks to fill with quotes from people like Sister Hilda, a petite elderly nun, who is directing the Daughters of Charity’s collection efforts for Cuba in west Miami. In addition to helping the Daughters ship emergency items to Cuba, we recently learned that we have helped them obtain a warehouse to store the great volume of donated goods coming in each day.

CRS is grateful to its donors who make these efforts possible by contributing to our Latin America Severe Weather Fund. On the islands themselves we’ve been able to provide food and survival essentials for thousands of families in some of the hardest hit areas.

CRS’s relationship with the Daugthers goes back more than 10 years. For Haiti I plan to visit two key parishes, Notre Dame D’ Haiti located in the heart of Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood and Saint James parish in North Miami. It was only four months ago that I arrived at Notre Dame’s white gates to talk about the food crisis. Today, it’s the floods.

– Kai T. Hill

Greg Elder — Catholic Relief Services Deputy Head of Programming for Haiti — spoke from Haiti with Sara Fajardo. Greg reported on what he saw when he arrived in Haiti.

Some Haitians are resigned to annual storm and flooding disasters, but recent storms hit the country harder than normal. Photo by Alix Innocent/CRS

I was sitting in the Miami airport trying to make my way when Gustav hit. I’d just finished my home leave and all flights were grounded. I knew that immediately after the storm passed we needed to start responding.

We went through hurricane Dean last year, and tropical storm Noel, and that was bad enough. When a hurricane rolls around again those memories are fresh in your mind. Hurricanes are very much a part of daily life. Having two major storms last year, the gut reaction is — it’s happening again.

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After almost three weeks since a dam break in Nepal sent floodwaters into the neighboring state of Bihar, India, reports from the field say damage from flooding is getting worse.

“Essentially, a river exists now in areas where it didn’t before.”

That quote from Catholic Relief Service’s country representative in India, Jennifer Poidatz, hints at the devastation that has forced about 2.6 million people to evacuate their homes.

We expect more updates from India and Nepal soon. We’ll post alerts on the blog as information becomes available.

Catholic Relief Services is responding to the flooding in the state of Tabasco in Mexico, as well as the damage caused by Tropical Storm Noel in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba. We have committed an initial $1.5 million for emergency relief, including water, food and basic supplies. We are working closely with our Caritas agencies in each country.