Letter on the eve of my departure to Libya. Montreal.
21 May 2012
I realize that my last letter was written in November 2011. A
lot has happened since then. Apologies for not writing more often. (On the
other hand, if you find you are not interested in receiving my occasional
letters, do let me know – I will not be insulted and I will take you off my
mailing list.)
The most memorable event which happened since that time was
the birth of my grandson Aiden on the 21st December. His sister,
Arianna, turned three the following day. So we celebrated her birthday while
Roxanna was still in the hospital. It
fell on the two grandmothers (Doris and myself) to take icing covered cupcakes
with reindeer antlers and fruit skewers to Arianna’s daycare center. And, later
that day, we took the cake that Jesse had baked to the hospital, so Arianna
could blow out the candles in the presence of mom, dad and baby brother. And
then there was Chanukah and Christmas and New Year’s Eve. And I went back to
Montreal to do some laundry, pack my bags, and leave for a three month mission
to Mindanao, in the Philippines.
This was actually a bit of a surprise, because I thought
that I would be going to Haiti. I had
been working on my French. Doing background reading on Haiti. But, instead, I
went to Cagayan de Oro (CDO) in Mindanao, where a typhoon – Tropical Storm
Washi (or”Sendong” as they called it in the Philippines) – hit the northern
coast of the island on 17 December. The
force of the typhoon was felt at 11 p.m. for most of the people in CDO and
Iligan, when the flood waters rose and people had to flee in the dark carrying
infants over their heads and helping the elderly and those mobility impaired to
safety. Rivers
overflowed their banks with a ferociousness that swept away houses, cars and
bridges, damage magnified many fold in those areas where huge logs from illegal
logging operations initially formed a dam and then broke free to be carried
forward by the flood waters like battering rams. The storm destroyed or
seriously damaged nearly 40,000 homes, forcing 430,000 to flee to evacuation
centers (ECs) in schools, churchyards, and other community structures. Others
sought shelter with families and friends.
When
I arrived in CDO – one of the two main centers of the destruction – it was
already 5 weeks into the emergency, so clean-up was well underway, emergency
shelter had been provided to most of those who lost their homes, and the
recovery process – and plans for rebuilding homes and lives – was already
underway. It constantly amazes me how people who have lost family members –
husbands, wives, children, parents – there were more than a thousand deaths
-- and all their material possessions,
have the resilience to start again. To smile, to laugh and to live again.
Imagine: you spend 15 years working as a domestic abroad, you send your money
home each month to your family; you finally have enough to build a nice house
in a nice sub-division on the river; you’ve just paid off your mortgage; and
Sedong comes – and it’s all gone!! That was the story of many of the families
in the Orchid sub-division in Iligan. My assignment was to provide advice to
the UN Humanitarian Coordinator/Resident Coordinator, to the UN country team, and
to government on issues concerning housing, land and property in the context of
Sendong. As always, it was a steep learning curve….interesting…exhilarating
when the advice you provided seems to make life a little better for those made
destitute by the typhoon. When, for example, the government agreed with you on
the importance of getting people out of tents and into “transitional shelter”
(e.g., bunkhouses or amakan traditional houses, that were easy and cheap to
build) while waiting until permanent housing would be available; or when they
agreed on the need to design “balanced communities” (mixed income, commercial
as well as residential) and not simply sub-divisions of poor people.
I
was also able to take some long weekends to visit Camiguan Island, Davao,
Bukidnon and Bahol island – to see some of the innate beauty of the Philippine
islands. And I had week’s R&R (rest and recreation) in Vietnam, which I
enjoyed immensely. What a vibrant country – colour, light, and taste – aahhhh!!!
– the tastes of Vietnam. I went from Hanoi and the Red River Delta, to Halong
Bay (magical in the mist), to Denang, Hoi An, Hue, Ho Chi Minh City and the
Mekong Delta.
The
end of that mission coincided with the annual ProCap Workshop in Geneva. While
the weather was a disappointment, my colleagues were not and it was a great
bonding – as well as a stimulating – four days. Since then, I did a quick fly
down to Austin to see the family, and I now have my bags packed. A taxi will
arrive in 20 minutes, so I want to mail this out. I will try to write more once
I reach Tripoli. Aaah. I didn’t inform
you – that is my next adventure – with UNSMIL and UNICEF in Libya, working on
protecting children, especially those in detention, those associated with
militias, those at risk of trafficking.
It will, as always, be a challenge and, right now, it is an adrenalin
rush.
Warmest
regards.
No comments:
Post a Comment