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Chinese Red Cross to build transitional schools in Tacloban
The Chinese Red Cross is building transitional classrooms for thousands of schoolchildren in Tacloban City in Leyte, the Philippine Red Cross said Thursday.
Chinese Red Cross external liaison department director Zhang Ming said they are returning the favor for the international help to China in the wake of the Sichuan quake in 2008.
"We got a lot of international support. From that time to now, a big change happened in the Chinese Red Cross. We started building up our professional services. Now, we can [help devastated communities] outside China. Responding in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines is our first time to do so," the Philippine Red Cross quoted Zhang as saying.
With the transitional school project of the Chinese Red Cross, about 60 classrooms measuring 20 square meters each, will be constructed and can accommodate more than 2,600 students.
She said the Chinese Red Cross initially wanted to put up at least 500 shelters for the survivors but decided to build transitional schools after finding there was no land available for the shelters.
"Tacloban has 54 schools, including elementary schools, high schools, and colleges. But typhoon Yolanda severely damaged 51 of them, and rendered the rest very much in need of major repairs," the Chinese Red Cross said.
For her part, Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang thanked the Chinese Red Cross for their generosity and support.
"The transitional schools will help children in Tacloban move forward in life, despite the catastrophe they have just gone through. We appreciate the efforts of the Chinese Red Cross who have partnered with us to implement this project which is sure to make a difference in the lives of children in Tacloban," she said.
Tacloban is among the areas hit hardest by Yolanda, which left more than 6,000 dead.
Zhang said the Chinese Red Cross deployed logistics, water sanitation, medical, IT, and psycho-social support personnel to Tacloban.
She said the team camped outside the Tacloban city hall, putting up tents there. It then helped clear debris, conduct medical missions, and retrieve cadavers.
"The medical teams treated 3,700 people in Tacloban, including pregnant women. We were welcomed by the people," she said.
Zhang said she was impressed by the residents' "courage in facing a disaster like this."
NDRRMC: Death toll rises to 6,092
The number of fatalities from Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) went up anew Thursday, reaching 6,092 as of 6 a.m., the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Counci said.
In its update, the NDRRMC also said Yolanda had left 27,665 injured, even as at least 1,779 people are still deemed missing.
Also, it said Yolanda had affected 3,424,593 families or 16,078,181 people in 12,139 villages in 44 provinces.
Yolanda also displaced 890,895 families or 4,095,280 people. Of these, 20,924 families or 101,527 people are staying in 381 evacuation centers.
The NDRRMC said Yolanda destroyed 550,928 houses and damaged 589,404 others. — ELR, GMA News
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