Help Them Get Back Up On Their Feet
All too often we see families who suffer through natural disasters and personal tragedies quickly forgotten after receiving initial relief assistance. iPrevail seeks to go beyond first response, providing means to rebuild homes and recreate livelihoods in order to empower our beneficiaries to prevail through catastrophe and transcend to a new beginning.
iPrevail International Foundation's roots come from disaster recovery. we have been helping families overcome disaster and personal struggle. We started the foundation by helping families who survived typhoon Haiyan recover their livelihoods and re-establish self sufficiency. iPrevail has helped others prevail by providing materials to rebuild homes allowing families to move on in their recovery efforts. We have provided communities with financial resources, job placement, and other means to allow others to provide income and necessities for themselves and their loved ones. iPrevail International’s impact is not only felt through writing and photography as our staff and directors step outside of the office and become involved first hand in the rebuilding mission in areas struck by natural disasters. We will continue to impact communities in which we are involved by providing rescue, rehabilitation, recovery, and rebuilding services along with job placement and business building knowledge to truly allow victims of tragedy and disaster prevail.
The Story of Danilo
We live a very simple life. Me and my family are happily living in our own house.
When typhoon Yolanda hit our place, we lost everything. Our house was destroyed. I thought that it is strong enough to keep us safe since it is made of concrete but I was wrong.
As the water rose I knew that all of us will be carried away by the flood..I wrapped my wife and my children with the table cloth I saw floating and put ply wood that fell from our ceiling in front of them. I embraced my whole family together with the table cloth and the plywood. I can feel the pain every time something hit my body but I have to keep embracing them to protect them. As I recall the strong winds lasted for about 2 hours and I embraced my whole family the whole time.. I thought I was having a bad dream. I tap my head several times and say to myself wake up this is not real… this is not real.
The Storm That Stirred Our Hearts
The Story of 9 Families of 9 families who moved our hearts begin here. A plea we couldn't ignore, read the personal letters of family members in the aftermath of the deadly hurricane, and follow our Blog to discover how they eventually got back on their feet to a new beginning.
HERNANI, EASTERN SAMAR
“My name is Nenita Petallo... I am one of the people who have a lot of relatives in Visayas where super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan directly hit. All the source of their livelihood has been destroyed, they have no more home. I want to help them pick up the pieces and start again. I want to make sure they have something to eat and they have a home. "
SILAGO, SOUTHERN LEYTE
"My name is Suferiano. I have a wife and child who live with her parents at Silago, Southern Leyte..our home has been destroyed and they have nothing more to eat because the typhoon destroyed all their crops. We wish to get our home rebuilt, but we don’t have the means to buy the materials necessary to rebuild."
CATBALOGAN, WESTERN SAMAR
"We lost our house and livelihood. My family survived everyday living by relying on our rice fields, which we lost during the storm as well. My father just passed away this year and immediately after my mother suffered from a mild stroke. My mother has had a difficult time walking because of this."
GUIUAN, EASTERN SAMAR
My parents house was totally damaged, there is no food to eat and because some of my nephews are getting sick and there is no medicine to take. My hometown is totally devastated. They are fighting for survival, they do not know where they can find food and when they can start again. Some people are depressed because they have lost hope for their lives, leaving the place with no direction.
BABATNGON, LEYTE
"Up to now, we have not been able to contact them and we are extremely worried. The news we see on TV makes our hearts break and feel very sorry for the victims. How much more my sister and her family who live by the sea side because being fishermen is their main livelihood in Leyte. We can’t help but worry if they still have something to eat?"
JULITA, LEYTE
I had not been able to get a hold of any of them after the typhoon. On November 11th, Monday morning, our uncle made a call to Manila to inform [us] that they (father’s side of the family) are all alive but have no food and no shelter as their house was fully destroyed during the typhoon..they have been sleeping on the streets and no relief goods have reached their town yet. "
CALBIGA, SAMAR
"One of my children and both my parents were there to bear witness of the unfathomable disaster. Due to the intensity of the typhoon, our family home was completely destroyed and so is our rice field which was my parent’s livelihood. At this point of time, I know they are suffering, they have nothing to eat and the relief goods are not reaching their remote area."
HERNANI, EASTERN SAMAR
"They all lost their homes and they have nothing to eat. My sister has six children and one is still missing. According to my relatives, my sister is currently suffering trauma. My sister’s livelihood is from copra, fishing and weaving nipa hut. All of which have been badly affected by the typhoon."
MELGAR, ORIENTAL MINDORO
“Our home has been destroyed- the roof is gone and the walls are gone and the rice crops all demolished because of the flooding. I’m making an appeal for help in rebuilding our home as well as obtaining the capital needed to plant rice again, which our family relies on for survival”
