Sendong - a Month On

It is almost a month since 'Typhoon Sendong' devastated Cagayan De Oro City with catastrophic flash floods that killed over 2000 people and destroyed thousands of houses.

Still many thousands of people are homeless. Many are still staying in schools, basketball courts and other public buildings. At a number of locations large 'Tent-Cities' have been set up with tents provided by Shelter Box Charity and Rotary International. In due course permanent houses will be built on the same sites but official sources are saying that it could take until 2013 to complete this work.

Cooking for 200+

In the meantime our Mission partners, Lifenet Children's Foundation Inc. have joined forces with several other organisations and local churches to continue providing hot food to some of these evacuees. We have been pleased to provide funding for this and more money will be sent in the next few days.

It is estimated that around 1000 children are now orphans as a result of the floods and the local authorities are hard pressed to find enough people able to care for them. So we now need to push on and get the House of Joshua children's home completed as quickly as possible to provide a loving and supportive home for some of these children where they can receive help and counselling to start to rebuild their lives.

We need your help and we need it NOW! If you are able to please, please click on the donate button on the left of this page and give whatever you can afford.

£25 will feed 200 people for a day or pay the wages of one of the workmen building the House of Joshua for a week. £2500 will buy the roofing materials for the house but even just £5 will make a significant difference.

We promise you that the money will be spent well and wisely. We have no paid staff and virtually no overheads so everything you give will go where it is needed the most.

More photos of the aftermath of the floods and the relief efforts can be found via our Facebook Page

Local Newspaper Publishes Appeal

T.C.R.C.T trustee Jo Conroy, who is also logistics manager at Aid to Hospitals
Worldwide, with some of the boxes of aid to be shipped to the Phillipines

Local Newspaper for West Suffolk, The Bury Free Press has covered the story of our efforts to provide relief to flood victims in Cagayan De Oro City appealing for it's readership to contribute tins of food and blankets as well as money to help with the costs of shipment. Read the full article here

Responding to The Floods

A whole community of shanty houses
once stood here now reduced to rubble and debris.

A huge thank you to our supporters who have, so far, contributed more than £3500 to enable us to respond to the tragic flooding in Cagayan De Oro City caused by Tropical Storm 'Sendong' (international name Typhoon Washi.

This money has been passed on to our local agents who have been out most days feeding up to 400 people as well as distributing bags of groceries and clothing.

Sacks of rice and boxes of groceries  

for distribution to the needy.

'Arroz Caldo' (hot rice and chicken soup) 

for homeless flood victims.

Rebuilding and rehousing people is going to take several months so the Philippines Government now plans to build several large tent cities to provide a temporary safe environment for those who have lost their homes in the floods. One of these tent cities is to be located near Canitoan (where the House of Joshua is being built. We are therefore urgently seeking permission to send a container of tools and medical equipment to help the Canitoan Barangay Medical Centre cope with the anticipated increase in demand for their services.
If you would like to contribute to the relief efforts please click on the Paypal button on this site.

Flood Disaster Latest

Distributing bags of groceries

Today BBC Radio Suffolk interviewed Mary Rendon live via telephone to get the latest situation on the flood disaster in Cagayan De Oro City. You can hear the interview by clicking on the podcast player below.

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Donations for the flood relief effort may be made via the Paypal button on this blog page

Lots more photos of the flood can be found via our Facebook page

Cagayan De Oro Flash Flood Disaster

Parts of Cagayan De Oro City have been devastated by flash floods in recent days due to torrential rains associated with 'Hurricane Sendong' which struck the Philippines last Friday.
Video footage and newspaper articles can be found here.
One sad case we have heard of where a mother and father had their only child snatched out of their arms by the flood waters just as they were being rescued. The body of the poor child was later washed up on the shore of an Island some 20 miles away.
This is the second time that the city has been affected by flooding like this in four years. sadly it is the poorest of people who have no choice but to build their shanty homes in the vulnerable, low lying areas along the riverbanks. We have a  number of contacts and projects in the affected areas, including Puntod where we helped to fund some rebuilding after a fire destroyed homes about 3 years ago. Our friends at Nehemiah House, a refuge for young girls, have also suffered some flood damage to their premises.
Donations to help those affected by this disaster can be made via the Paypal button on this page. Any money donated will be used to buy food and clothing for flood victims who have lost everything. If you are a UK tax payer we can also claim tax relief on your donation if you also click on the gift aid form link after your donation has been confirmed.

Autumn 2011 Newsletter

For all the latest news and photos of the House of Joshua check out our
Autumn 2011 Newsletter

House of Joshua Latest

Over the past few months, despite it being the rainy season, building work has continued apace at the House of Joshua site. The ground floor walls have been filled in with hollow blocks, the upper floor and columns have been moulded.

The next stage of construction will, amongst other things, include fabricating the roof beams and rafters, completing the internal and external walls, installing the septic tanks, first fix carpentry, electrics, plumbing and drainage. This will cost about £19,000 at current exchange rates so we still need to raise about £8,000.

Final costings for the roof and second fix are still awaited so there is bit of a way to go before the building is completer but we are getting there!

Meanwhile Back at the Building Site

While trustee Andy Conroy has been playing with a boat in the Bay of Biscay conctruction work has been pressing on apace at the House of Joshua building site.

The foundations have now been dug and concreted and the 34 support pillars for the ground floor have been formed. The next step will be to fill the gaps between the posts with concrete blocks to form the walls before installing the first floor support joists and then making the pillars for the upper storey.

This second stage will cost around £10,000 and we will be sending out the money for that within the next few days so that work can continue without interruption.

Biscay Busted!

'White Sands' leaving Plymouth, 15 May 2011 bound for Spain.

Following his sailing experiences in the Bay of Biscay Andy Conroy writes:-

"Well we have done it – completed a 645 mile crossing of the Bay of Biscay in a 45ft sailing yacht from Plymouth to Bayona in North West Spain.

Our original plan was to depart from Falmouth and sail to La Coruna but a favourable weather window saw us bid an early farewell to England having decided that, given the forecast wind direction of Force 3-4 Westerly turning North or North Westerly, it was a good opportunity to get past the notorious Cape Finisterre with a full strength crew.

Along the way we saw glorious sunsets and schools of Dolphins playing in our bow-wave. We saw beautiful sunsets, a myriad stars at night and the lights of passing ships. Looking at all the beauty of God's creation around me I wondered how anybody could believe it all got here by accident! We motored for hours in flat calms and glassy seas, sailed fast in stiff breezes and faced a force 8 gale with 4 metre waves off Finisterre.

We shivered through cold night watches and flying spray and we basked in warm sunshine. Running a 4 hourly watch keeping system (4 hours on deck managing the boat, steering, adjusting sails, navigating and then 4 hours off for eating, domestic chores, resting, listening to the weather forecast, etc.) it was hard to sleep with the ongoing noise and motion of a yacht at sea, especially in rough weather, with crew clambering about on deck, winding winches amidst waves crashing, gear rattling and occasional radio announcements.

Early one morning we collided with a large plank of wood and dodged several others – probably part of a cargo lost overboard from a ship – fortunately it didn't do any serious damage. At one point during the gale on Friday 20th May we were capsized by a giant wave and the boat’s cockpit filled with water. Another big wave could have seen us in serious trouble yet 7 hours later we sailed into Bayona harbour in a gentle breeze and warm evening sunshine – truly the adventure of a lifetime.

To quote one of the crew, “Sailing is a sport that asks a lot of questions”. We answered those questions with courage, team spirit, with determination and with faith, as well as our combined skills as yachtsmen. Personally, in a moment of danger, it also asked me how I felt about the possibility that this could be the last day of my life on earth. I responded that I was not afraid because I was at peace with God. If you are reading this today permit me to ask you the same question - 'what if this is the last day of your life here on earth?' Would your response be the same?

We learned a lot about ourselves and despite the hazards and privations of life at sea in a small yacht we had an absolutely brilliant time.

Personally I have achieved one of my life-long ambitions to undertake a serious long distance ocean sailing passage but the greatest achievement of all for me was to raise over £1400 (including Gift Aid tax rebates) towards the cost of building a home for orphaned and abandoned children in the Philippines. With a donation of just £10 buying over 100 bricks that should make some serious inroads into the building costs!

So I would like to say an enormous ‘Thank you’ to all my many friends, customers, family members and other kind sponsors who have contributed so generously to this splendid result."

The prize for the ‘Guess The Mileage’ competition goes to Mrs B Rowe of Bury St Edmunds, who with an estimate of 650 nautical miles was the closest to the actual distance sailed of 645. She wins £35 in Argos vouchers, which have also been donated to the cause.

Although the mileage competition has now closed you can still make a donation to the House of Joshua project by clicking the Paypal button on this page or by sending a cheque to our office address. Every single penny donated will go to the House of Joshua.

Meanwhile, out in the Philippines building work is pushing ahead and we are just about to release another £10,000 for the next phase of construction. For more information on the project please visit our website www.conroyrendoncharity.co.uk

To see some pictures from Andy's trip please click here.

And They're Off

After months of planning and training the Yacht White Sands sets out today from Plymouth bound for Bayona Spain.
Amongst the crew of five is one of our trustees, Andy Conroy, who is raising money for the building of the House of Joshua. Already over £1300 has been donated by way of sponsorships.
Original ports of departure and destination were to have been Falmouth and La Coruna but the latest weather conditions have encouraged a slight change of plans to take advantage of favourable winds.

Bon Voyage White Sands!

To find out more or to sponsor Andy please click this link.