Volunteer Helping Philippine Villages Handle Disasters

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Many Filipinos earn a living close to the water.

Washington — Peace Corps volunteer Bryna Rabehl of Byron, Minnesota, is launching an emergency response project to help rural communities in the Philippines when a natural disaster strikes.

Rabehl established the First Aid Skills Training for Emergency Response (FASTER) program to address the gap between the emergency response needed and the emergency response received in vulnerable communities in the Bicol region. Every year, many parts of the Philippines experience typhoons, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions or landslides.

“In addition to assistance in the case of a natural disaster, local communities are in constant need of easily accessible and available responders who can quickly assist in common first aid and basic life support–related incidents,” Rabehl said.

The FASTER program would provide local communities with 50 trained First Aid and Emergency Response volunteers who could respond to emergencies with expert knowledge. FASTER would train volunteers and post their names in villages, which would use them during a disaster. A portion of the funds for the project will be raised through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, which helps support Peace Corps volunteer community projects worldwide.

 

Two international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have pledged their support to the program. One NGO will provide classroom space, materials and staff support; the second will provide the training labor, training materials and modules required for the training. Funds provided through the Partnership Program will be used for weekend volunteer transportation, certification funds and project materials.

The 50 volunteers recruited from around the area will attend a six-week training course followed by a two-day certification camp. As soon as the project raises sufficient funds, an international NGO will prepare an advertising campaign for the training sessions.

“Whether they will be the ones trained, the ones aiding communication, or the ones receiving disaster or medical attention, our goal is to reach as many community members as possible through the FASTER project,” Rabehl said.

The NGOs involved and the community have already contributed 56 percent of the total budget of the project. To receive funding through the Partnership Program, a community must make at least a 25 percent contribution to the total project cost and outline success indicators for the individual projects. This helps ensure community ownership and a greater chance of long-term sustainability.

More than 8,680 Peace Corps volunteers have served in the Philippines since the program was established in 1961. Currently, 223 volunteers serve there. Volunteers work in the areas of education, youth development and coastal resource management. They are trained and work in Tagalog, the national language, and regional dialects.