It’s rare that an entire string of ambulance turning up is good news, but in this situation is exactly what we have been waiting and hoping for. The Medical mission that we have organised in combination with local medical aid and dental agencies is designed to make sure that our beneficiaries have the best care that we can provide them with and to make sure that the village starts off on the right foot when it comes to looking after the needs of our new community.

In terms of organisation, our local Foundation team has done a great job, ably led by DR June Sanico, our local project manager and a man whose warm and friendly manner has led to him being the life and spirit of the village. Everybody knows exactly where they need to be and what they need to do, and even though we have hundreds of people moving through temporary waiting rooms and consultancy areas, the whole thing purrs like a well oiled engine.

I decide to make myself useful with some of the supplies we have brought with us in our luggage, and so we break out pens, pencils and crafts equipment, and make sure the kids are kept thoroughly entertained while they are waiting. The nail stickers are a massive hit, and I end up being decorated like a Christmas tree by giggling children whilst their parents look on and smile indulgently.

We have been joined by Miss Earth Angelia Ong and her friend Michelle Gomez. Angelia has a longstanding relatonship with the people here, and she joins with them for dancing and a look round at the developing community.

There is a tremendous feeling of peace and Serenity here. I have travelled to many places in my time, but I have yet to see a place where the people are so kind and friendly towards us, their children and towards each other.

Talking to our social team, they confirm my impression. The social team are running the many interviews and workshops to prepare our beneficiaries for a new life in the village. In every case, the overwhelming desire amongst the people we are helping is that we give their children the best future possible, so that they can escape the poverty trap they find themseves in today.

It’s a humbling experience. Many of these people are literally living in self made shanties with mud floors, water pulled from hole in the ground and with a few pigs and chickens out the back to supplement and income which in many cases are equivalent to the price of a cinema ticket a month.

I also hear from the social team that many of the children have been traumatised by their experiences during the Typhoon, that when the winds blow in the night and rattle the corrugated iron walls of their huts, they experience nightmares, remembering the screaming monster tearing the world – and their lives – apart.

But here in the sunshine, there is no hint of that fear or sadness at the moment. Both the children and menu of the adults are watching the antics of Pingu with slightly confused amusement on the temporary cinema we have rigged up. This is a place that has not seen snow within living memory, and even the doctors occasionally look up from their work as a penguin and a seal play fish tennis to a semi-circle of open mouth toddlers.

Part Three