It’s been a tough few years for everyone. For those who were affected by Super Typhoon Odette, it’s been an even tougher few weeks.
They have had to face a mountain of adversity.
Broken homes, lives lost, and hours-long lines for just about every basic necessity– not to mention the lack of electricity and running water. All this on top of a pandemic that’s quickly headed toward another surge in positive cases.
During the critical first days of recovery, the last thing that CoDev wanted their employees to worry about was work. Upon hearing of the devastation and difficulties our people were experiencing, we immediately set out to help our team members in distress. Here’s what we did:
Full coverage of days off
With the electricity and internet services down in most of the typhoon affected areas, remote workers from all companies were unable to work from home for at least a week. The management of CoDev immediately made it clear that those directly impacted by the typhoon would still receive their full pay for those days off, even if they did not have available leave credits.
CoDev Community Information drive
The CoDev Community did their best to maintain critical communication with the entire team, despite the difficulties. Information was vital at this time. CoDev teams stayed in touch when they could through emails and instant messaging. Management sent out forms to get every team member’s current situation. They also shared local emergency contact numbers; where to access clean water, groceries, battery charging stations, gasoline, and functioning ATMs. Updates regarding various affected areas were also shared, as well as status updates on CoDev’s local offices.
Open offices
CoDev opened its Cebu and Bacolod offices to all employees (and their families) needing food, shelter, water, and a place to charge their phones and other gadgets. Office pantries were stocked and restocked with food, water, and other supplies that employees could freely access.
Access to clean drinking water
One of the biggest challenges that people had to face on a daily basis was the lack of potable water. Water refilling stations were still closed due to lack of power, and because of skyrocketing demand and supply chain issues bottled water was being sold at highly inflated prices. CoDev sought to help its employees and even their local communities by providing not only 10 liter jugs of distilled water to each employee, but water purifiers as well. These purifiers were primarily financed by CoDev’s clients through donations, and installed strategically in participating employee’s homes, allowing other employees living nearby to have shared access.
A month after Typhoon Odette, many of those affected have begun to regain some semblance of normalcy. Power and water have been restored in many affected areas thanks to the efforts of power companies. But there are still those that have yet to rebuild or restore their homes. In this area, we hope to give more aid to our employees in need.
Here at CoDev, we value each member of our team. We always make sure that our team members have all that they need in order to live and work well. Learn more about CoDev’s efforts and activities, and how you can be a part of our amazing team here.