School desks serve as makeshift clinic for Dr. John Tabije (standing) and Jacob Macarilay, nurse, at a Tacloban City evacuation site.


Dr. Demy Reyes (above) and Dr. Pan Callanta (below) treat
Yolanda survivors amid the rubble left by the super storm.


A CCT medical mission team went to Tacloban last week to serve and care for the people hit by the typhoon. “Yolanda survivors need counselling the most at this point,” said Dr. John Tabije, one of CCT's doctors on the team. “Several groups are already attending to basic medical needs. What’s needed now is people who will help them deal with the trauma.”

Dr. John was part of a team of three doctors and two nurses sent by CCT to Tacloban two weeks after the city was devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda. “We treated people with open wounds, mostly from stepping on nails or broken glass, or after being hit by flying roofing sheets. We brought a child with asthma to the hospital. We put a broken limb in a cast and gave anti-tetanus shots. What survivors need at the moment is someone who can help deal with their losses, help them face the future,” he said.

The CCT team partnered with the office of Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin in bringing medical treatment to survivors in evacuation centers in the city proper, to students of the World Evangelical Bible College in the neighboring town of Dulag, and to residents of Brgy. Talolora, Tanauan.

“Another major need is transportation,” Doc John pointed out. “Relief supplies are piling up. Volunteer drivers and trucks are needed to transport these to villages that have yet to receive any form of help. Sick survivors have to be brought to the hospital." Most vehicles in the city were rendered useless by the storm surge brought about by the Signal # 4 typhoon. "Even the vice mayor has to walk 45 minutes from his home to the city hall.”

Doc John said that temporary shelter such as tents was also in short supply.

Ruth Callanta, CCT president and founder, said, "We enjoin friends and ministry partners to join us in the long-term work of helping our community partners rebuild their homes and lives."