Samar is the third largest island in the Philippine archipelago (after Luzon and Mindanao). It is the size of Connecticut or the island of Jamaica - to give you some perspective. But despite its size, a good number of even the educated among us cannot place Samar on the Philippine map. A number think this third-largest island is part of the neighboring city of Tacloban (in the province of Leyte). Thus, Samar has, in a sense lost its sense of identity…it has ceased to exist in people’s minds. Samar is no longer a viable entity!  Samar’s statistics do not look good. In fact they tell us that this giant of an island is critically ill (to mention of few of her ailments):

• 75% of its children are malnourished

•  The denudation of Samar’s once lush rain forests virtually wiped out the livelihood (fishing and farming) of the population

• Samar has one of the lowest literacy rates in the Philippines

• Children do not have access to books or any reading material; even schools do not have libraries (teachers teach geography without maps; teach English without dictionaries)

• Hospitals do not have the basic medical equipment and supplies to treat even the most treatable (though deadly for those in Samar) diseases like dysentery and diarrhea.

• No blood bank

• No ambulances to transport critically ill or injured people anywhere