Surviving The Typhoon Newsround Specials

It was the biggest storm ever.

It devastated lives all across these islands.

I've come to the Philippines to find out for Newsround

how children are coping after Typhoon Haiyan.

Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippines.

Winds as strong as 200mph tore homes apart piece by piece.

Thousands of people were killed, millions more left homeless.

The islands of Leyte and Cebu were hardest hit.

I travelled to Cebu

to see how children are dealing with the disaster.

So, we've arrived in Cebu City,

and it is reassuring to see that life is getting back to normal.

People are heading home after work, kids heading home from school.

Shops are open, people are selling food on market stalls.

But just a few kilometres from here, it is a different story,

and although this area wasn't hit badly,

we're heading to meet some people who are doing their bit to help.

This is the biggest warehouse in Cebu,

and it's where all the supplies come in.

People bag them up and they get sent out

to some of the worst-affected areas,

like Tacloban, which is about a two-hour boat ride from here.

It's noisy, it's busy. It's open 24 hours a day.

And you'll notice one thing - all the volunteers are children or teenagers.

How long are you working here tonight?

Cos you've been at school today.

Yes, we have been at school today for at least half a day,

because two hours will be in here,

and it is our pleasure - we are not in school -

to give a little time for those in need.

You can give a better future to them.

Travelling north from Cebu City into the disaster zone,

I begin to see the damage brought by the typhoon.

Now, while it seems the emergency is over,

people here still don't have electricity.

You may be able to hear the sound of a generator in the background.

You hear it all the time here.

But I've come to meet the children

to find out how they're getting back on their feet.

Chrislyn runs a school for eight-to-fifteen-year-olds

in Bogo City, which was badly damaged by the wind.

They're worried they'll have to tear down part of the school.

I asked Chrislyn to show me around.

OK, we go this way.

This is supposed to be a fourth-year classroom.

-And this would accommodate so many children.

-Yes.

In this room, there are 80 school desks.

-So all your equipment was damaged.

-Yes, it was damaged.

Everything was damaged.

It must be so frustrating for you.

How do you feel about it when you step into this room

-and you see all of this?

-Yeah, this is the room where I cry. You know?

Because I don't know how to...

Even me and my family, we don't know how to construct this again.

But we're trying our best.

So, what's happening to all the children

that would come here for class every day? Where are they going?

-They're in the new building?

-Yeah, in the new building.

My biggest worry for the children here

is we are not sure yet if they could pursue

or we could give them some assurance that we can go on

unless we know that we can rebuild this school, this building.

When I speak to the children here,

although their families are safe and unharmed by the typhoon,

they are upset that their houses and school have been damaged.

Despite all of that, their message is one of hope for the future.

So, how do you feel when you come back to your school

and you see it like this?

My tears is about to flow, because I see the damage of the school.

It's not OK.

And I was just thinking how we can continue our study, but...

it's already gone.

Where are you staying now?

It's OK.

It's hard, isn't it?

Is it important, then, for you to come to school?

What do you want to do?

When you think about graduating from school, what do you hope to do?

-Can I say an inspirational message?

-Yeah!

We already lost our house, but we never lost our hope.

We've driven about three hours outside of the city,

and this is where it gets remote,

and this is where you get to see where the damage is.

People's houses are reduced to rubble.

Trees were uprooted, power lines are down.

And this is where it's going to be really hard to get the aid, I guess.

But amongst all the calamity and the damage,

you do see people at the side of roads sweeping away the mess,

repair people trying to pull back those power lines

and get the communication up and running again.

And what it's telling me

is that the people here are not going to be victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

They're fighting back.

Places like this never had much in the first place.

Now many of the things they cared for have been destroyed.

I've come to this school in the small town of Somosa

to talk to the children about their experiences.

There's no chance of having a lesson here,

when your entire classroom has been completely destroyed.

There's nothing left to the structure at all.

So what they've done is they've created these tents here

so that lessons can continue, at least.

So, there's about 60 children in here right now,

and each day they can come and talk about their experiences

or, as you can see, they can draw pictures.

And it's here where charity workers believe they'll have

the first opportunity to talk about the experience

and come to terms with the things they've seen.

You're helping lots of children,

but in your opinion, what do they still need?

So, basically, they want their books, they want their bags,

they want all the school materials that they need.

You have seen the books? They were drying all the books.

They still really want to read them.

But, you know, it's very difficult, because some of them,

the pages are already sticking to each other.

-And are you hopeful for their future?

-Yes, I am, very much.

They will be able to dream again

and they will be able to build the school and pursue their dreams.

So, while the relief effort gets under way,

it's places like this that become so important for the children here.

It's a place where they, for a while,

can forget the stresses and worries of everything that they've seen

and just be children.

Can some of you tell me

what you remember from when the typhoon happened?

-TRANSLATION:

-I was under the table,

because my mom told me to go under the table for me to be safe.

I was just praying that the rain will stop, because it was so scary.

What do you like so much about coming here?

-TRANSLATION:

-I love to be in school and play with my friends,

because if I just get stuck in my house it will be so boring.

And can you tell us some of the activities you were doing in class?

-TRANSLATION:

-I drew a big house, and I drew our family inside the house.

'Kit, who is eight years old,

'lives just around the corner from the school.

'His family wanted to show me what happened to their home.'

Wow. We're just coming up to their house now,

and it's like a pack of cards just tumbled down.

Well, this is what's left of the house they once had.

And I say "what's left" - there's nothing there but wood.

There's kitchen utensils over here.

Can you tell us about the day

and what you remember of the day the typhoon hit?

-TRANSLATION:

-The day before the typhoon,

we had already evacuated to the warehouse.

We thought we'd be safe because it was concrete.

However, at ten in the morning,

the wind was so strong the roof was blowing away.

We begged the neighbour to let in the kids so they would be safe.

When we were standing in front of the door, a roof nearly hit us.

At that moment, I thought we would all be dead.

But I am thankful to God we are all safe, especially my children.

How long do you think it will take to get the school back up and running?

I could not estimate.

-It depends upon the resources.

-Are you positive?

For me, this is the beginning

for another day of our lives as educators here.

All what is inside the school premises lies on my shoulders.

So when I look at it, this is the challenge, this is my job.

So I have to face it. I have to face the reality.

Life must go on.

THEY LAUGH

We've met children who have experienced

things most of us can't imagine,

children who have lost their homes, had their schools destroyed.

But despite all of that,

I've been struck by how strong they are and how well they're coping.

And I'll leave here with a real sense of hope

for the Philippines and its people.