I am out in Manila in the Philippines, working with our partner COSE to bring urgently needed assistance to those affected by the devastating floods.
We went out to five flood affected locations in Manila to distribute food and other basic essential items. The packets contained rice, candles, oil salt, clothes and mineral water.
There were so many people milling around the area and asking for food, including children and adults. Everybody is in the same situation and needs help. The situation in some of the areas we visited is heart breaking.
There is still some water on the roads but most of the houses are OK. People are busy cleaning their houses. But everything inside the houses is gone. We saw piles and piles of household items thrown outside.
We were taking pictures of the piles of garbage. In some case there is two feet of mud inside the house. They will have to start all over again. It is going to be very hard.
Eight of the COSE staff houses were flooded up to the roof. They have also lost everything. One of them (Peng) sat on the roof of her house with her two children for seven hours before being rescued. They are emotionally devastated, yet are going out with the team for distribution. They also need support to rebuild.
Find out more about what we do in emergencies to help older people.