The UN announced this week that they have received only US$14.2 million from governments in response to an appeal for US$74 million.

The money is urgently needed to help the Philippines respond to typhoon Ketsana, which hit the capital Manila, and typhoon Parma which hit the north of the country.

The Philippines

In the Philippines, HelpAge partner COSE began relief operations on 1 October.

Ed Gerlock, 70, Advocacy Manager for COSE, describes what it's like for people living in makeshift shelters and public buildings:

“Neither schools nor the stadium were ever built to house the large number of people that now reside there. Sanitation is a major concern.

"I have heard of outbreaks of diarrhoea but the great fear is cholera because we have had outbreaks in the past. Tetanus is a worry because the water is dirty and filled with glass and barbed wire.

"Added to this, the vast majority of people in the centres are poor people and are not well nourished.”

COSE’s volunteers − older people themselves − are playing an active role in the relief effort. They have distributed food packages of rice, noodles, oil, salt and sugar to over 1,800 older people and their families.

They have also provided other essential items such as water, blankets and mats.

Community medical volunteers are providing medicines to treat waterborne diseases and infections.

Older people have also lost their livelihoods.

“We have spoken to many people who have lost their only form of income. Food vendors, rug-makers, tailors, carpenters, chicken farmers – they’ve all lost everything”.

Vietnam 

In Vietnam, HelpAge’s partner the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) joined the rescue teams of local authorities and helped evacuate people from dangerous locations.

All 28,000 members donated one day of their salary, which helped to fund distribution of food, clothes, medicine, and water-purifying pills.

The Vietnam Association of the Elderly (VAE) estimates around 300,000 older people (around 10% of the total affected population) have been affected by Typhoon Ketsana.

The VWU will deliver cash grants for house repairs to those most in need. Most cash grants will be $35 per household.

Indonesia

In the two weeks since the earthquake struck the city of Padang on the western coast of Sumatra, thousands of people have struggled to cope with the effects of heavy rains and landslides following the earthquakes.

There was significant damage to infrastructure, including telecommunications, roads, bridges and water supply systems, which made relief efforts more difficult.

Over 1,100 deaths have been confirmed by Indonesian authorities and almost 2,500 people have been injured.

Identified priority needs include emergency shelter (almost 100,000 tents and tarpaulins), education, water and sanitation.

HelpAge and its Indonesian partner Yayasan Emong Lansia (YEL) are currently assessing the situation in Padang and looking at how we can work with other humanitarian agencies on the ground.

Emergency appeal

Meanwhile the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal has raised over £3 million since it began its appeal last week but it stressed more donations were urgently needed.

More than 5 million people live in the affected areas of Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.

The large shortfall in funding from governments suggests that the efforts of aid agencies will be more essential than ever.

Please donate now to the DEC appeal.

Read more about HelpAge's response.

Read our South East Asia blogs.