It 's 7 a.m. in Tanauan , the Philippines , and the church bells are ringing for Sunday mass . It 's May 2014 and I 'm accompanying 11-year-old Jednel and his parents to the weekly service . Jednel is one of the children I have got to know through my work with children 's charity Plan International . When Typhoon Haiyan wreaked havoc across the Philippines in November 2013 , I was deployed to support the team . Jednel lives in a coastal village in Leyte , which was badly destroyed by the tsunami-like waves that followed the storm . Many of the people attending the church service lost family members and friends , many of whom are now buried in the mass grave outside on the main square . When the minister calls for prayers , the air is thick with sorrow . There is a common experience that , as an outsider , I can not fully grasp . Everyone in here has sensed the risk of death . They have been so close to the end , but they have survived . Soon the air fills with a sense of power and energy . When the minister cracks a joke , laughter echoes out through the open doors . Now , having visited the Philippines three times over the past year ( in November 2013 , and then May and September , 2014 ) , I truly believe the disaster recovery has come this far because of the remarkable resilience and spirit of the Filipino people . IMAGES : Before and After , six months on . Rush to rebuild . When I first arrived in Western Samar in November 2013 , just three weeks after the typhoon , all I could see was piles of debris , reminiscent of apocalyptic destruction . Yet , in the middle of the rubble and burning waste , I could hear the sound of people hammering , already in the process of rebuilding their houses . Women were washing their clothes and hanging it between the few walls that were left of their homes . Children were running around in flip-flops looking for scrap metal and old glasses they could sell to help their families get food . I even heard people singing . A year later and a lot has happened ; Jednel 's school is being rebuilt , he is attending a temporary school , and plays with his friends on the weekend . The rubble and fallen trees have been cleared and the vegetation is lush and green . Shops have reopened and the streets are crowded with cars , bicycles and taxis , while the community is out in full force , selling fruit and sweets . Children can play freely on the beach and they are finally allowed to go swimming in the sea once again . Children among most vulnerable . Jednel has grown a great deal since last November . Now he is a confident , relaxed boy who welcomes me to the house of his great grandmother . He says he 's still afraid of storms and bad weather , but the nightmares come more seldom . Plan International 's priority is protecting children who are among those worst affected by a disaster , and among the most vulnerable after . After Haiyan , Plan set up `` Child Friendly Spaces , '' providing a safe space for 21,000 children to play , learn and get much-needed emotional support -- while nearly 10,000 parents , children and community members were trained on how to avoid violence , abuse , neglect and exploitation . Over the past year , Plan has helped more than 40,000 children to return to school with its `` Back to School '' kits -- including bags , books and pens -- or by rebuilding classrooms , training teachers and supplying school equipment . Although we 've come a long way from the devastating scenes my colleagues and I witnessed a year ago , work still remains . In Tacloban City , one of the areas worst hit by Typhoon Haiyan , Plan 's `` Building Back Better '' project is working with the government and community members to help residents build a community that 's better able to withstand the next powerful storm . As for Jednel , he now dreams of becoming a scientist and learning more about typhoons and climate change . We look out towards the calm ocean and I ask him what it 's like to live in the Philippines , where a natural disaster never seems too far away . Jednel replies : `` This is my favorite place . It 's like a freedom , where my family can live and be happy and proud . '' For me , hearing his words is testament to the resilience of Jednel , his family and the Filipino community .
Spirit of Filipinos remains strong one year after typhoon made landfall November 8 , 2013 . Typhoon Haiyan is one of strongest cyclones ever recorded . More than 6,000 people were killed , whole villages swept away by wind , water . Storm surges flooded low-lying coastal regions , destroying homes and businesses .