* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
A home destroyed
Standing among the rubble of what was once his home, Manuelito struggles to hold back tears. On his back he carries his 21-year-old daughter Manith, the eldest of his five children.
Together they stare quietly at the damage caused by Typhoon Haiyan (locally named Yolanda). Both seem bewildered by what they see. The mound of rubble beneath their feet was once their home. Muddy books and shoes are lined up to dry in the sun.
“Most of our belongings were washed away by the water” Manuelito explains quietly.
Vulnerable
Barotek Viejo is a small town on the coast of Ililo province in the Philippines. When Haiyan hit, most people fled to the evacuation centre in the centre of town. Manuelito carried his daughter on his back over one kilometre to the safety of an evacuation centre, two kilometres from their home.
“I was so afraid for her” he said. “The water was rising fast.”
Like many people with disability Manith is extremely vulnerable during a disaster. People with disability often have difficulty accessing emergency services and rely on family members and support for their safety. Manith has no wheelchair and the only way to get to safety during the Typhoon was for her father to carry her.
Uncertainty and fear
Manith is the eldest of five children and when the Typhoon hit, her father had to get neighbours to help him get Manith’s brothers and sisters to safety.
Manuelito stayed with his children, including Manith, at the evacuation centre for two nights. Unable to return to their own home, the family had no choice but to move in to their neighbours house, which is cramped, with two other families also living there. Manuelito said he is not sure how long they will be able to stay and that he feels uncertain about the future.
“I am fearful for my children” he said.
Manuelito runs a market stall selling peanuts and biscuits, while his wife is a domestic worker overseas in Kuwait. His dream is to build Manith her own house: “One day, I want her to have her own place with a bedroom”.
Story from Chelsea Huggett
Read more about persons with disabilities in the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan on www.cbm.org
