When the Super Typhoon hit the Philippines on the 16th of December 2021 there was an immediate need for affected people to feedback about their needs and the type of support they were getting. Loop was only in its infancy but any organisation that was aware of Loop could use it in their response activities directly.
ECOWEB championed its use in the immediate aftermath of the sudden onset crisis.
ECOWEB distributed 1,000 Shelter kits to 1,000 families over 5 weeks. At each distribution people were informed that they could feedback through Loop. In the days that followed, 100% of all messages thanked ECOWEB for their support and for providing a feedback mechanism.
Feedback arrived in Tagalog and in English, through the free SMS line and through Facebook Messenger. Ten of the people who fed back to ECOWEB received a direct reply to their feedback within a day. Any feedback that had a concern raised received at least one reply, often two within a day as well.
In total Loop received 59 pieces of feedback from December 16, 2021 to February 7, 2022 (this learning period). This was from 56 authors and 29 organisations were tagged in to reply. 22 replies were received, closing the feedback loop within 2 days. Within this, 19 concerns were raised with a one-day average response time. One sensitive story was received, which was referred onwards.
The following thematic areas were mentioned in the feedback.
Both Loop moderators' homes were directly affected by the Typhoon and internet was down for over ten days. This meant that we needed support in moderating stories that came in Tagalog and Cebuano.
Mobile network was badly affected by the Typhoon as well. People needed to climb to the top of hills to get network and submit their feedback, ask for support etc. Sometimes if they tried to submit feedback by SMS the response did not arrive quickly, making the 'conversation flow' less smooth. We will explore how to submit feedback that can then be automatically sent when network is available.
Some elderly rural people who received a distribution did not have phones and felt less familiar with Facebook Messenger or sending a text message. Youth volunteers, and family members were mobilised to support them and show them how they could feedback.
Of the 59 stories received during the period, 28 were of thanks. The feeling is quite positive and of a strong communal response with some of the requests being for others and not just the author's household.
There were 15 quite variable concerns submitted to Loop. This included a feeling that there were uneven distributions across villages, a request to be added to the distribution list and a request for more shelter. There was also a report of medicines not being available in pharmacies.
Directly after the Super Typhoon, there were 8 submissions of collective needs assessments. This was from response organisations that knew about Loop. This data was fed into the relevant needs assessments.
Five stories were requests for support. This included requests for: psychosocial first aid; training to help with livelihoods; cash; as well as tin to repair houses.
You can anaylse this data further here in English, Tagalog or Cebuano.
For further information or questions please email:
retchel@talktoloop.org or alex@talktoloop.org
