On November 8, 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, swept through Southeast Asia leaving 4.1 million people displaced. Typhoon Yolanda is the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record, killing over 6000 people in that country alone. Yolanda is also the strongest storm recorded at landfall, and unofficially the strongest typhoon ever recorded in terms of wind speed. As of
January, 2014, bodies are still being recovered and rebuilding efforts are in desperate need. Tools For Tacloban is an Australian based tool drive designed to acquire the tools needed for Philippine Communitere (www.facebook.com/PhilippinesCommunitere) to open and operate their Resource Centre and tool lending library to support the rebuilding efforts in Tacloban City. Communitere is a non-profit organization with a proven international model for sustainable disaster response, relief and recovery. They harness collective energy to ensure strategies are synchronized and gaps in aid are bridged. Their mission is to empower local communities and international organizations alike by offering expertise, resources and workspace. Their project in Haiti (Haiti Communitere at www.haiti.communitere.org), developed in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake, established a successful recovery model that strives for local and international actors to operate as a community, thus increasing capacity and streamlining logistical operations. The objective of the Philippine Communitere Resource Center is to provide a space that will support reconstruction, through providing the local community with the resources they need to repair and rebuild property and other assets damaged by Typhoon Yolanda. It will reduce the financial burden for the community, by providing a common space that they can access, thereby reducing individual overheads. The center will also help communities restart livelihoods damaged by Yolanda and promote alternative means of generating income. The center will support disaster risk reduction (DRR) by providing training on disaster-resilient construction techniques and acting as a hub for promoting innovative construction techniques that harness local resources. In addition, the center will be open to international groups supporting reconstruction, also reducing their overheads and fostering closer relationships between international and local groups.
