Southern Leyte, Philippines

On my second trip to the Philippines I got to go on a field trip with some of my Plan colleagues to one of the areas in the south of the Philippines called Southern Leyte to see some of their development programs 'in action'. Our field trip focused on their local Disaster Risk Reduction program i.e. how to mitigate the impact of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods, and - quite common in this area - landslides.

Before heading off for the day, I captured this photo from my room at the guesthouse...



Then we spent the day touring the area - lush fields & beautiful hills.....



...and then visited the location where a major landslide occurred in Feb 2006 - quite a shocking and surreal place as it all looks so calm and peaceful now....



After meeting with the mayor of the local community and hearing about how they have organised themselves to respond to future natural disasters, we enjoyed dinner by the water....



....and stayed on to enjoy the sunset while watching a children's drama
(see next blog....)