We are excited to announce our newly established Manila chapter launching on November 12!

The chapter was established in response to our Philippines Floods Response in August, following Tropical Storm Haikui. This tropical storm brought two days of heavy rains, causing massive flooding and landslides throughout the capital city of Manila. Manila recorded nearly 30 inches of rain between August 7-8, and over 80% of the city was inundated. Over 800,000 people were evacuated from their homes and 250,000 people were moved into emergency shelters.

Since this area is very prone to disasters, the chapter will be focusing on disaster resiliency and reconstruction projects, providing communities with the skills and training needed to mitigate the impact of future flooding. Due to its location along the typhoon belt, the Philippines experience have about eight or nine torrential rains and thunderstorms making landfall each year. Most recently, Hurricane Son-Tinh hit on October 26, killing 27, injuring 19, and leaving 9 missing (as of October 31). It is estimated that 2 million people live in informal settlements in high risk areas along river beds that are prone to flooding. Basic investments in the built environment could prevent this disaster from occurring again.

This chapter was established by Illac Diaz, who worked with us previously on the Bottle School project after Typhoon Ketsana in 2009. He is a proud winner of the 2012 Curry Stone Design Prize - an annual prize awarded to designs that improve people's lives and the state of the world, for his Liter of Light project, which brings eco-friendly bottle light to communities living without electricity. We're happy to have him on board.

With two potential projects already on their way, we're excited to see their work!

There's still much work to be done in this region. Please support the Manila chapter by directing donations here.