A memorable birthday at Mt Mayon!

My birthday this year was a very unusual one; joined a team in Legaspi city assessing the Mt Mayon emergency. Rather than birthday candles I had a simmering volcanic eruption!

Earlier this week Mt Mayon started erupting and thousands of people were evacuated to temporary sites. The aim of our visit was to assess the situation in evacuation centres and determine what aid and support was needed. We had a busy three days- met with the Governor, the Disaster Management centre, Department of Health and Education officials, local NGOs, mayors and barangay chiefs and visited five of the evacuation centres.

The conditions in the evacuation centres varied greatly. The volcano has a history of eruptions so many communities were well prepared; in some centres it was just like the village had shifted to a different location with mobile health clinics, school and day care classes running and some residents even setting up their "sari sari" stores ( a Filipino version of the convenience store). In other centres it was a shambles! At one that we visited there were over 1000 people crowded into a small school which had just four toilets. 35- 40 families shared one small classroom and there was no safe water supply.

Supplies to Legaspi are now on their way- water tanks, medicines, latrines and education kits have been sent and hopefully this makes life a little easier for those in the centres. The volcano is yet to blow so no one knows how long people will be waiting to return home.

The trip was a real eye opener for me but also a wonderful affirmation of the human spirit. Despite their situation, the people we met welcomed us with huge smiles. They were grateful to be with their families and community and felt blessed to have a roof over their head. Made me wonder what it would be like if everyone could live their lives so graciously...