In November 2009 Typhoon Ketsana hit the Philippines with devastating effects. The typhoon however continued in strength battering Vietnam and Cambodia. Siem Reap experienced incredible rainfall and overnight vast flooding affected much of Siem Reap.
On the night of November 1st that torrential tropical rain that is famous in Asia (usually in short bursts) never let up. The rain and lightening continued non stop throughout the night and by morning the effects were immediately obvious. Vast floodwaters covered much of Siem Reap, the river had broken its banks and water headed across town into shops, residences and schools.
While the immediate effects were obvious the floods caused many problems for families. For those households surviving day to day the floods brought and end to construction and farming work. This means income earned to feed a family each day disappeared, as did the food. Families lost their gardens which provided daily food and the capacity to feed themselves.
The flood and heavy rains damaged and destroyed homes. The young and the old were greatly impacted and had no means to improve their situation. Sadly lives were lost both during the storm, in the swollen river and after when stress, and elements had impacted those most vulnerable. It was during this time we realized how hard life can be, when you simply have no ability to buy more food, a blanket or a tarp to shelter under.
For us Ketsana proved a challenging time, we struggled to pull together resources and realized how difficult this can be with no ‘formal’ way of identifying ourselves as an NGO. Thankfully guests at our hotel were extremely generous, family back home sent money and we funded relief. At the conclusion of Ketsana we decided to work towards establishing Husk.
During Kestana we worked closely with the village chief. Over the course of the next 10 days we handed out food parcels in both Treak and Kompheim communities. Blankets and tarps were also provided to those families whose homes were damaged. Our hotel staff did an amazing jobs purchasing and then dividing up the food to make food parcels. Each day rice, meat, eggs dried noodles and vegetables were given to families. School children who lost their books were all given new note books and pens. All of this relief was coordinated through the village elders to ensure relief was provided to the families who needed it the most.