We made our way over to the Estancia branch office. Estancia is a fishing town lying on the northern coast of Panay (northern Iloilo) that was one of the worst hit areas by the typhoon. Two weeks after the typhoon passed, the once busy marketplace at the Estancia port was nonexistent. Few structures still stood, and those that did were severely damaged.


As we visited our staff and community partners in Estancia, the smells from the oil spill from a damaged barge caused by the typhoon, was still in the air. Our staff there shared how bad the stench was just after the typhoon: "the damaged barge plus the stench of dead bodies fished out of this shore added to the difficult state of the typhoon victims".

Despite lives lost, homes and businesses destroyed, the people there are up already rebuilding. They are starting small businesses to make money to support their families. Through the debris all over, in front of and behind collapsed structures, small businesses were rising. We heard that from our community partners and we saw that as we walked and drove along the streets.