7 Things to Remember While Serving Abroad
Here I am, sitting in the house-like office of our development project in rural Cambodia. I can almost hear the tinkling of water buffalo bells and smell the aroma of dog meat being grilled down the street. Yum…? It’s been two years since I arrived in Manila, Cambodia. Wait, Philippines. Two years ago, did I know I was going to move countries halfway through my program? No. Did I know a lot about what was going to happen to me over the next two years? Not really. …
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It's been five days since Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines.
I have never dreaded turning on the news so much.
The Monday after Haiyan, I went to Bangkok for LEAD Asia's Community of Practice, a semi-annual gathering of development practitioners within LEAD's network in Asia. Today was our third and last day.
During our time in Bangkok, my two Filipina colleagues-turned-roommates and I found ourselves distracted by updates on the aftermath of Haiyan. We kept tuning in to CNN even though we knew very well what we would see: endless footage of buildings leveled by the storm…
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The Philippines is no stranger to rain. Every year, the country is walloped by 20 to 25 typhoons.
And then there's this one.
Typhoon Yolanda (or Haiyan, as it's called internationally), is the 25th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year. A local paper claims it's one of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded. It's even got one guy at The Atlantic wondering if it's the most powerful cyclone in history.
Yolanda is not your friendly neighborhood typhoon. She's big (clouds affected 2/3 of the country at one point), fast (with winds up to 170 mph),…
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