Entire Badjao village burned down in Philippines

Disaster Emergency bulletin from The Fathers Refuge on Palawan...

Sunday 3rd September began like any other day at the Badjao village in Puerto Princess on the Philippine island of Palawan... until a fire broke out that destroyed the whole settlement in just two torrid hours. More than 1,500 people lost everything, although miraculously no lives were lost.

In one fell swoop four hundred families lost their homes and almost all of their belongings. Most escaped with just the clothes they where wearing.

The village captain sorted out emergency food, portable toilets and bivouacs for night shelter. He pleaded for fresh clothes and underwear and a wash kit for all the women. So on Monday the team went to buy, pack and hand out 560 parcels. As well as bringing comfort these distributions have lifted the women's self esteem significantly.

The Badjao have always been a rejected people and have lived on the brink of survival, building shanty villages in the shallows near the land. A key role for The Father's Refuge team now is to advocate on their behalf for a suitable piece of land to be granted, which is near enough to the sea for them to maintain their traditional livelihood as fishermen and pearl divers.

In 2015 The Fathers Refuge team spent seven months building the only safe pathway in the community and a spacious, well equipped centre for education, ministry, food distribution and health care (both pictured right). The end-of-jetty is all that remains. They named the pathway Tulay ng Buhay (Bridge to Life) – which became prophetic as the major reason there was no loss of life was this stable and wide escape route.

Please can you lend a hand?

The Fathers Refuge has opened a special emergency fund in partnership with UK charity Tikvah Trust, and is inviting help so they can supply essential needs to the community in the short term and help with the resettlement longer term. Each clothes pack with wash kit costs £10 and a simple charcoal burner with cooking pots, plates and ladles costs £20.

Donations may be given through online banking to Tikvah Trust:
• Account No: 00010540
• Sort code: 40-52-40
Please put reference 'Badjao' and 100% of your gift will reach this needy community because all the staff, transport and administration costs are already covered.

We can vouch for The Fathers Refuge.. our son works there and we have visited the Badjao village twice before it was destroyed. Please help if you can.

www.palawanrescue.org