Flags Magazine Volume 9 No 1: March 2014 Issue | Page 19

Activities

“I

do not want to be
gone when I am most
needed,” observed ADRA
Philippines Programs Officer
Jelome Manulu when asked
about why she spent her
Christmas holiday time at work.

JELOME: GRACE UNDER
PRESSURE
BY AIMEE TAPECERIA

“I decided to schedule
my annual leave on October
instead of December because
there always seemed to be a big
disaster going on during this
time of the year.”
Predictably another disaster
did come, but the intensity of
Haiyan was unpredicted.
Since then, the ADRA
Philippines office in Silang,
Cavite, has buzzed with
activity. Members of the ADRA
Emergency Response Team flew
in and out of Manila to assist in
the writing of proposals while
additional personnel were
sent to central Philippines to
organize the operations. ADRA
Philippines was as prepared as

PHOTO CREDIT: MARY ANN BELGA

Jelome at the on-site evaluation
in Panay Island.

PHOTO CREDIT: AIMEE TAPECERIA

Jelome Manulu at the ADRA Philippines Office in Silang, Cavite.

they could be thanks to careful
advance planning.
“I have had to work
with colleagues of other
nationalities before, but
never in these circumstances
where everything was under
pressure and needed to be done
quickly due to the magnitude
of the disaster.” With the data
from the assessment teams,
Jelome with other ADR )ɕ