Hi everyone,

It’s now been 16 days since Typhoon Rai (Odette) has hit the Philippines, and we would like to update you on all the progress we have made and the challenges we are facing. In many areas, this typhoon was more devastating than typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013. Some of the latest photos & videos we received show the devastation in Siargao close to our school.

With the help of the municipality of Del Carmen, we have managed to secure enough rice & canned food to feed our community. The maritime lines with the mainland (Surigao port) have been restored, and we are also starting to receive relief goods from various organisations, which is great news. Yesterday, we received a large delivery of rice, water, blankets, slippers and other necessities from a local NGO.

Most villagers have been eating rice, noodles & canned food in limited quantities in the past 16 days. This could lead to malnutrition or a poor balance diet. We are planning to re-start planting vegetable seeds as early as next week, as all farms have been destroyed by the typhoon. We are now looking for farming tools on the mainland.

The water supply remains a problems, as drinking water is available in small quantities. Some cases of diarrhoea have been reported, so we are extremely vigilant in informing the community about the importance to drink bottled water (if available) or boil the water carefully.

• Our short term solution is to use water filters: We have managed to secure 3 water filters so far (1 can serve 10 households), but we need 10 to cover our community. Hopefully we can find the missing ones shortly from the mainland.
• The long-term solution is to have a large-scale filtration system that can be connected to our water well, so that the water becomes drinking water for the village. This will cost an estimated PHP 250,000-300,000, as some of our well pipes have been damaged as well.

The electricity will only be restored in the next 4-6 months, so we are looking at acquiring a generator to provide electricity to the school and community. In the meantime, since our water well is damaged, we have converted the solar panel of our water system into a charging station for the community.

Apart from water, the biggest challenge for villagers is the repair of their roofs. We still haven’t been able to find a chainsaw to cut the coconut trees to make roof structures and have to go all the way to Davao to get one. Since it is still the rainy season, villagers are still facing very difficult conditions. We hope to find the appropriate construction equipment to help them start this process next week.

As far as our school buildings are concerned, and after studying the very few buildings which resisted the typhoon’s destruction, we are planning at having all the roofs of our new 5-classroom building & all future buildings with a concrete slab ceiling. This will allow us to become a safe and efficient evacuation centre for the community. As you can imagine, all these improvements will cost more than the original structures.


We celebrated Christmas with our students and gave them books. We have also decided that school will restart on 9 Jan 2022, as kids need to get back to a life that is as normal as possible.

Espoir is also providing psychological first aid (trauma management) to kids, who have been shocked by the typhoon devastating effects. Espoir has helped the local community as much as possible, and considered their well-being was extremely urgent. We are also helping neighbouring communities who have been even more affected by the typhoon (mostly light structure wooden houses).


I would like to thank all of you who have supported us with financial and moral support: private donors, NGOs, Foundations,…..

Many thanks to the local government of Del Carmen & their staff for their efficient support, to the police, army and coast guards with the delivery of relief goods.

Many thanks to all our teachers and staff, who have been on the frontline helping our community and launching relief initiatives while their own houses had been destroyed.

And finally, many thanks to our School Head Jerlyn for her incredible work and support in dealing with this crisis. Jerlyn’s previous experience in a refugee camp has been incredibly helpful.


Our above initiatives and commitment to a better & safer tomorrow will cost us much more than our original estimate, so feel free to continue your amazing donation effort.

I will personally match every donation, dollar to dollar up to USD 100,000. Don’t be shy;-)
We will make Espoir and our community a better place.

More updates are regularly posted on our Instagram and Facebook pages:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/espoirschooloflife/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/espoirschooloflife

All of us at Espoir take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year with the hope that 2022 will see bluer skies.

Nicolas Gontard
Founder of Espoir School of Life