by Gertrudes Samson

Who else can best convince people to practice solid waste management than people from their own community who practice it themselves and could prove that it is possible? TAO-Pilipinas is currently assisting the St. Hannibal Empowerment Center (SHEC) and its assisted organization in Pasay City called the St. Hannibal Christian Communities (SHaCC) on solid waste management (SWM) by training people from the community to become trainors themselves.

On April 11 to 12, 2008, the community trainors trained by TAO-Pilipinas held a two-day SWM Training Workshop at the SHEC office in E. Cornejo St., Pasay City to orient the second batch of 85 SHaCC members on the importance of solid waste management and how they could implement it in their community.

SHaCC is the second community to have undergone trainor’s training on solid waste management. The first was the Samahan ng Nagkakaisang Maralita ng Navotas (SANAGMANA), a community in a fish pond area in Tanza, Navotas. Like SHaCC, SANAGMANA community members were also trained in solid waste management. A month after the training, TAO-Pilipinas visited the workshop participants to see if they put into practice what they learned. Among those who practiced, potential speakers were selected for trainor’s training. They conducted the succeeding orientations in their community and then later served as resource speakers for the first workshop in SHaCC in Pasay in April 2007.

The successful result of the first workshop inspired SHaCC to seek the assistance of TAO-Pilipinas to help them build their own team of resource speakers, who then led the second SWM workshop in April 2008.
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An Australian volunteer in Manila

by Maggie Lee

“I came to the Philippines knowing the country well in theory only… so, I stayed eight months in Manila watching theory come to life”

I came to Manila, and specifically to TAO-Pilipinas and the Institutional Network for Social Action (INSA), to learn about the community development process and to witness how these two incredible organizations worked with informal settlement communities to help them improve their quality of life.
I am a masteral student, with a focus on environmental and social issues in cities in developing countries. I came to the Philippines knowing the country well in theory only, having chosen to focus on the Philippines and its housing policies as part of my masteral studies. So, I stayed eight months in Manila watching theory come to life. Unlike many other international volunteer placements which are organized through an agency, my placement was self organized, partly through an association with my home university Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and Miriam College. The advantage of taking this path was that I was able to create my own experience, by approaching organizations that interested me, and who would give me the experience and knowledge that I was seeking.

Shaping my own volunteer experience had its advantages – I didn’t have a fixed role or duties, so in a sense, I was free to do what I pleased. And its disadvantages – as an international volunteer with a limited command of Filipino, there was only so much I could do, and had to continually rely on using my initiative to look for and create work. During my time I visited several different communities in Metro Manila, attended community consultation meetings, built relationships with the community members, performed research and helped my organizations where I could. This ad hoc approach has blessed me with a kaleidoscope of experiences.

My reflection, I feel is best seen through the lenses I wore throughout my Philippine experience: Intern, Researcher and Observer-Learner.

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by Arlene Lusterio

Taiwan is located north of the Philippines and is the recipient of many typhoons that leave the country. It is also sandwiched between the Luzon-Philippine and Euro-Asia tectonic plates. Taiwan is exposed to four out of five natural hazards: typhoon, flood, earthquake and debris flow. Some of the worst disasters that have hit Taiwan are the Chi-Chi Earthquake on September 21, 1999 which had a magnitude of 7.3; the flooding due to Typhoon Nari in 2001 which shut down subway systems and the function of the whole city of Taipei; and debris flow in Central Taiwan in 2004.

The Taiwanese have strived to learn from these disasters. For example, the damage done by the 1999 earthquake has been preserved in the Earthquake Museum (left photo) in Tai Chung City. The actual ruins of a school housed in the museum show how buildings respond to seismic forces. Findings from research on the ruins of the earthquake have served as guides in structural designs of buildings after 1999.

An Emergency Operations Center was also established in each city to respond to emergency situations and serve as a hub for emergency operations. For example, Taipei has an Emegency Operations Center (EOC) housed in a building built just for disaster response, which can withstand an intensity 7 earthquake. It uses top of line technology and real time monitoring of emergency situations with support from scientists and technical experts from the National Taiwan University. It has a conference room where experts can meet in times of disaster and a special room for the commander or the county mayor. It has a 24-hour monitoring system, and disaster response can be initiated with back up power supply. They even have sleeping quarters so the emergency operations staff can work in shifts.

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